1st Encounter

Oh I am so excited!!! We just did our very first "Jesus Thing" in our little neighborhood. There are 8 families that live on our country road. Only 2 are families with a mom and dad living together, at least 2 have a history of incarceration, only 2 couple are married and the other "couples" rotate on a continual basis, with the women being the home owners. It's quite lively here!

So anyhow, the man that lives right next door introduced us to his "wife" about 2 weeks ago. A different "wife" that he lived with the whole time we've know him. Now this newest "wife" had 2 children which he introduced as "his". It's confusing. The children and I smiled politely and wondered what happened to the "old wife"! The boys said laughingly that he must have traded up or something. Then a slience fell over us = a sadness, that this is probably exactly what had happened and we began to pray for Joy (the old wife) hoping she is safe and well wherever she is. Then we began to add the neighbor and his newest wife and children to our prayers at night. Which brings us to this morning!

Abby is learning how to make muffins. She made her first batch this morning with no help from me whatsoever. They were pretty good! Except she broiled the first batch instead of setting the oven on bake. lol Those were crunchy! So there were a few muffins left over and she decided to bring them to the neighbor and invite the children over to play this weekend. It was 10:30. We knocked. He was asleep and came to the door sans shirt, apologizing for the dogs barking at our feet, etc. etc. He was surprised to see us, and when Abby told him the reason for the visit he teared up and explained that his wife and the children didn't live with him at the moment. It seems that her probation officer didn't fancy her leaving the county without his permission and so she was now under house arrest at her previous residence.

We don't know the whole situation, don't need to. It became startling clear to us, a fact which we knew but didn't know what to do about, that this man needs Jesus. Not because his life is full of "sin" and depravity, not becuase he was asleep at 10:30 and isn't working at the moment, not because his house trailer is falling in around him and he sleeps with dogs inside and who knows what else, not because his pickup truck is full of beer cans. But because his heart is broken. Abby articulated this to me better than any theologian ever could.

"Oh mama!" she said when the door closed. "He really needs Jesus doesn't he? I mean, his heart is broken and that kind of heart can only get fixed by Jesus can't it Mama?"

Yes daughter. That's the kind Jesus loves the most.

So we resolved to make a weekly trip to one neighbor on our road with either muffins or cookies, or an invitation for supper with us. This is what Jesus would have done isn't it? We've been listening to the book of Matthew and Mark and a bit of John too, and what stuck me was how unassuming Jesus was. He didn't blast through the door with fire and brimstone and beat anyone over the head with "the Gospel". He WAS the gospel. He lived it, from providing wine at a wedding feast, to healing the hurt and broken. I might not be able to heal anyone, but we can be a balm to the hurting - the hands and feet of Jesus, ministers to the ones the rest of the world has cast aside as useless.

Help us Lord. They need You. Help us be your hands and feet.