And so it is Christmas. Emmanuel.
God is still with us. Amidst the
fear and chaos and hatred God is here. I
had to remember back to the time when my daughter and grandsons were trapped in
their home during a shooting situation, to the wise words of my six-year-old
grandson David, “God has this.”
I am tired and hurting, and my
energy level is close to zero. I wonder
what ministry I can do in this situation, but then I remember, “God has
this.”
As I got my van back from the
repair shop, and completed some long-overdue errands, I received some
answers. I dropped off some small gifts
- Christmas pencils and stickers for the children in the classroom where I
volunteer. I had some unexpected gifts
waiting for me, with cards telling me the children were blessed to have me in
their lives. I was overwhelmed. I consider it all joy that I can be with
them. Seeing them improve in reading and
arithmetic is my pay, hugs are a sweet bonus.
I dropped off a charity sweater at
church and a woman approached me. We
have seen each other at church but didn’t know each others name. We introduced ourselves and chatted for a bit
as she waited for her appointment with the pastor. She was curious about my wheelchair, and
surprised how quickly I got around in it.
She is facing some health issues of her own. We will be meeting again so we can have a
longer talk.
Our weather has turned cold and
wet. We have many people without
shelter. And our city council, in its
wisdom, voted to postpone a vote to declare a shelter emergency until January
5th despite a public call for a vote now.
They wanted a certain person to be there for the discussion. And so many people are spending their nights
in the cold and wet instead of in public buildings which could be opened to
house them, or in tents or temporary shelter on land which the city has already
designated for homeless housing. One
member of our church is very involved in the homeless community, running a
feeding program and contending with the powers that be. She recently ran a campaign for tent and
sleeping bag donations. Our church has
always been a welcoming presence and keeps a food pantry.
My husband and I were tired of
driving by people and feeling helpless, so we put together a “homeless bag”
project which the church adopted. The
sewing group make the bags, and we fill them with useful items, like a
flashlight, tissues, bandages, Tylenol, socks, water, granola bars, a bandanna,
space blanket, toothbrush and toothpaste, etc.
There’s also a list of places that can help with meals, (limited) beds
for the night, job placement, etc. and a map to locate those places. It’s not much, but it’s better than handing
someone a dollar or ignoring them. And
of course we pray.
It seems this year, more than
before, it’s easier to look at other people as less than people. It’s easier to label them and consider them
less than worthy. But tonight we went to
the Live Nativity put on by one of our local churches. Our son is visiting from out of town (the
high desert) and hubby and son weren’t sure it would go on in the pouring rain,
but this is Eureka. We went, and there
were the seven scenes, and people handing out CDs with narration to accompany
the scenes, and volunteer police cars to direct the traffic. And to my delight, Isaiah was played by a man
in a wheelchair! Yes!! No big deal made about it, he just sat there
at his table with his parchments, listening and writing. It gave me great joy to see a disabled figure
associated with Christmas that wasn’t an object of pity. Praise the Lord!
“Even though our outer nature is
wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16
Dear God, Thank you for reminding
us that even when we feel useless, there is always something we can do, that others
still see your light and life in us.
Help us to remember that as long as we breathe the breath of life, we
are yours, and radiate your gift of Jesus’s love and salvation. We are so blessed. Amen.
May your holidays be blessed. I hope to be back to a regular schedule very
soon.
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