The Conditions Were Perfect for a Storm |
May 3, 2011 |
If there’s one line that I hear most often when I mention that I grew up in KS it’s, “well, you’re not in Kansas anymore.” That may be true, but two weekends ago we got a little taste of KS in the south as an historic outbreak of tornadoes ripped-across central and eastern NC. With mutliple confirmed tornadoes, and many lives lost, the area is still recovering.
Yet, in all of this God has a purpose (see Job 37: 12-13) and is making much of Himself in our community. In fact, our family had the privilege of serving alongside many others from our church, most of whom live downtown (one of the hardest hit areas) and had many opportunities to give of ourselves to the people most affected. To be certain many of the things that still need to be done will take skilled labor and much larger equipment than the average weekend warrior has, but plenty of needs remain and with them plenty of opportunities to share the love of Christ with our neighbors.
Two short stories I wanted to share…
The story that has impacted my life in a very deep way was one of the gifts that decided to join our convoy of hope and help. Her name is Iris. Iris is the 91 year old elderly African-American woman who just showed up in one of backyards that we were working in and decided to jump right in. When I saw her, purse in hand I immediately went over and told her to please let us do it for her, it would be our privilege. Well, that didn’t work. She insisted that she wanted to help and do her part. As the story unfolded over the next hour, I found out that she didn’t even live in the area. She drove to downtown Raleigh, saw us working, and joined us. I asked her her story after we finished the house and she shared with me about her upbringing and how she grew up on a farm and on the farm everyone had to do their part…and this was hers to do. Well, not only did she decide to join us for that yard, but she decided to join us for the next one as well. All I can say is that I was humbled and amazed by God’s work in her life and compelled by the way she gave. My comment to wife when I returned home later that night was, “I can’t help but think how proud God was of one of His daughter’s today.” Way to go Iris, I can’t wait to work together again soon!
After cutting up a large pear tree that had fallen in a elderly man’s side yard he came over and asked who we were with and why we were helping. After sharing a couple of things in response to his questions he responded back to me (pointing to a chainsaw running at my feet), “now, I like the sound of that sermon.” It was priceless. One other fun part to this story, one of his grandsons, Jonathan, was helping us with the tree, and in keeping with some of the things shared in the book When Helping Hurts, my buddy and I asked him to come along with us…and he did. In fact, we picked up a steady stream of folks along the way and ended up with quite a crew. It was great to invite them to join us in giving back to their neighbors, some of whom they’ve never even met before.
My one thought after an exhausting day of work is, it truly is more blessed to give than to receive.
So the conditions were perfect for a storm. But in my opinion there were actually two storms that happened. One, a natural disaster, that certainly did great destruction and harm. Yet there was another that day and in the days since. A storm of people, working to collaborate with God’s redemptive purposes, working to see great good come out of what was intended for great evil – a storm of love, a storm of hope, and a storm of giving.
May 5, 2011 at 3:20 PM Justin,
It's hard to imagine how much was destroyed. I heard one tornado victim say, "The only thing more powerful than these storms is the love from so many people who have come to help."
Thanks for leading with your chain saw.