Thursday, September 06, 2007

Are we so busy we dont see?

Warning..This is a long post and no pictures..But worth it!

So I was thinking.. as school starts up and our crazy schedules become even crazier I thought I would leave you with a few thoughts that have come to mind the last few days.
I heard a christian radio show and they were saying that 5 years ago we could make 3 calls to get the amount of volunteers we need to staff an area of ministry, but now it takes a minimum of 20 calls to staff that same ministry.. Why? Well 'cause we are sooo busy with our day to day lives, our family our work, we no longer have the time to volunteer in the ministry. Now that got me to thinking. If we are so busy we can no longer find time to volunteer a few hours at church were it's "easy" to serve for the Lord..then are we to busy to serve when its not easy, in everyday life? Let me put it this way..In the story we ALL know about when we sit at the feet of Jesus and he asks us if we feed the hungry or clothed the naked or took in the homeless and we reply "when" and the Lord tells us when we have done it for the least of these we have done it for him...and the story goes on..
So it takes TIME to see the least of these.
I know when I drive sometimes once I have gotten to the place I needed to go I wonder how I got there..you know "mindless" driving. This is a perfect example of no time to see.
So let me encourage in this story...
On Wednesday I was going about my business and running a ton of errands before school started the next day. I arrive at Target about 10am. I check out Target and the Scrapbook Nook before heading off to South Center around 11:30. As I pull out of the parking lot I see a car with a man working on it and he has a wife and kid in the car with him. I pay no mind except to see them. I don't even think at this point it crossed my mind to wonder about how they were doing. After all day of running around I find I need to now return something to the Scrapbook Nook. So around 4:30 I head back over and return this item..when pulling out of the parking lot I notice again this family is Still there. The young guy learning over the hood of the car and the wife and son sitting in the car. At this point I say to myself "man that's a bummer, they have been here all day, I wonder what's wrong?" Well I continue on my way.. Mike and I are going to meet up for dinner and I need to get home. Mike and I go and have a nice dinner with out the kids and as we are leaving the adjacent parking lot I tell him.."you know I saw this family broke down over there, I think they have been there all day" With no thought really he just hears my story and we begin to pull out.. I ask last minute if he wouldn't mind swinging passed the Target parking lot to see if they are still there. At this point I figure there is no way they are, and it was more curiosity than anything . Go figure they are. We turn into the parking lot not knowing what we could do, if anything. We decide we will give them money..It was the only thing we could think of..so we pull out some cash and pull up. At this point both the lady and her husband are sitting on the curb with a look of complete disappointment. Mike tells them I have noticed them throughout the day and asked if we could do anything. They reluctantly show Mike the problem with the car..well Mike has no idea how to fix it. Instead he says we would like to buy them dinner. They look at each other and say, yes. So Mike and I head over to Domino's pizza and order them a pizza, bread,dessert and drink. As we wait 15 minutes for it to be ready they weigh heavy on our minds! We head back to bring them the dinner a man is working on there car. We pull up to find after all this time a random mechanic has stopped and began to work on there car. So now they are feed and have someone to work on there car and it only took 9 hours.
I know because of the obedience to take the time to see them the windows of heaven opened up for them at that moment. In there dispare, when they really needed it, God came through with the RIGHT people for the job.
I know a long story but my heart became so full in that moment as we drove away and they mouthed the words "thank you". We never mentioned the Lord..never said his name but I felt and knew they understood in that moment that, God had provided for them!!
We took the time to see..

4 comments:

Andrea said...

That's awesome! Good job you guys!

Cagle Clan said...

That's awesome Mel. Way to BE the message.

MKD said...

I totally agree w/ you mel that people are WAY too busy. As we're rushing off to here and there and doing this & that we forget to truly LIVE and enjoy this life God created for us.
If we're so busy we forget to "watch" for angels unaware and for people who we can truly show Christ too.
We can't be Jesus w/ skin on if we're so busy living OUR lives. We forget that this life isnt' OURS, but HIS.

Ok I'm done w/ my sermon. I'll get down off the pulpit now....

Searching for my Sanity or Jen...whichever you prefer... said...

Wow Melissa!

What a great thing to do! I am sure you made their year. :) Like Jess said below way to BE the mesage. :)

Jenna