One day a couple of weeks ago I was browsing through my emails, clicked to open one from Family Promise and read a plea for help in hosting for overnights at one of our host churches. I instantly went to my back pain, fully documented with an MRI indicating problems with a lower back disc. After all, I am getting older and I have “done my time”. How could I risk my health and safety? Sleeping on a cot might damage my ability to remain mobile! However, this excuse didn’t last as I recalled all the fantastic volunteers who provide hospitality to families who are homeless, day after day and night after night. My potential back pain didn’t merit such justification. I felt the call to fill the empty space for that Friday night.
Arriving on time, I initially felt quite useless. Gone are my days of playing basketball, the game being played by several of the children. So, I sat. One of the teenagers engaged in conversation. She talked about how her family had moved here last winter from Chicago. She had become acclimated to an environment of violence with aggression being a survival tool for her. Here in Lawrence the school atmosphere was much different. She noticed that students were actually studying in class. She went on to tell me about some of her plans. She was making the transition with hope and persistence.
Let’s see…..was the purpose of my volunteering for this teen to witness God’s presence in her life to me? Sometimes I get confused about who is ministering to whom. And my back problem? No worse or better than being in my own super duper temperpedic bed!
I strongly recommend you join me on a cot of your own.