Greater Things

The month of July has been a bit of a whirlwind. We celebrated July 4th with family up in Duluth, MN, then Chad and I celebrated our 9th anniversary with a quick trip to Stillwater, MN. A few days later I flew to Chicago, IL with a girlfriend for a long "girls weekend". Then it was back home for a few days before heading to Cross Lake, MN for the weekend and from there we drove to our family reunion and spent a week in Wisconsin Dells, WI.

When we got home last Saturday evening it hit me that I hadn't been to church the entire month due to our crazy schedule of vacations. Sunday morning we headed to church and what a breath of fresh air it was to spend the morning worshiping with our church family. God has sure been good to us and we're so blessed to have such an incredible church that we're a part of. As we sat in the service Sunday I started thinking about our crazy busy month and all the places we'd been. Then at the end of the service our youth pastor and his daughter got up and talked about the missions trip they'd just returned from in Honduras. Needless to say there wasn't a dry eye in the place after Dan and Jo got done telling of all the great ways God had provided for them and their team. Dan talked a lot about the people they'd been able to minister to and my heart just ached to be a part of something like that someday. I've always wanted to go on a missions trip outside the U.S. but it just hasn't happened...yet.

The past couple of days I've been thinking of just how amazing our God is and how undeserving I am of everything He's provided for me specifically and also for our family. I started thinking back to some of the people I'd seen on the streets late at night while in Chicago who had small children with them but were out sitting with signs asking for help and money, or the homeless man who came over to dig through the trash can next to us while we were sitting on a bench outside a shop in Wisconsin Dells. Wow. Obviously I've seen people in rough shape before, but seeing the old man in Wisconsin Dells really left a pit in a my stomach - because Carson sat there watching the man dig through the trash can and asked "Mom, why's that guy taking garbage out of there?". The man just turned and looked at us and when our eyes met I smiled at him hoping he'd see that my smile was filled with God's love unlike many of the "smiles" I'm sure he's seen in his day. I talked later with Carson about this homeless man and he seemed very confused. His little mind had a hard time grasping the idea that not everyone has a home, or a playset in the backyard, or lots of toys, or even a bed to sleep in at night, but he did seem to understand how I ended our conversation when I told him that there are lots and lots of people in the world who need help - from us, but most importantly from Jesus. Since then he's been asking if he can "help" people.

Well, yesterday we had a wonderful chance to "help" people. Our church was hosting a community outreach event that the kids could be a part of. Carson and I spent an hour and a half at The Wellstead in Rogers, which is a memory care facility for seniors. The best part was that we got to bring along our pets to share with the residents. It was so fun to watch Carson show off our sweet little dog, Boots, to all the people there. Carson was pretty shy, but the people sure enjoyed seeing all the kids and their pets. We finished up our time there by singing some old hymns and saying goodbye to the new friends we'd made. What a perfect opportunity to show the kids just how easy it is to show God's love to people - especially those in our own community! This really got me thinking of all the people in and around the Hanover/Rogers/St. Michael area who are hurting and need so desperately to have people show them that God DOES love them regardless of whatever challenges they're facing. I've really been praying that God will reveal other ways we can reach out to those in need in the months and years to come. Some of the lyrics to one of my favorite songs says "greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city". I can't wait to see what God has in store for our community and our nation - what a privilege to be a part of "greater things"!