Gigi's Blog

This lil' piggy went to the Homeless Shelter

visioncgbc | December 03, 2007 10:23

This weekend was hectic, but I shouldn't even mention it as if hectic has not become my family's normal. Friday night the church staff met at Grandma Hoyt's for some of the 3fs. I had a really good time, and enjoyed the "Bible" charades we played. It's fun and good to get away as a group like that. It's not that we're leaving the church behind per say, it's that the stress of Sunday's and Wednesday's as far as the logistics of the services weren't there, allowing us all to relax. Did I say that politically correct enough? Roger said some meaninful things that spoke to the staff and encouraged them. I'm not a member of the staff, but I was encouraged as well.

Saturday was also busy. Chloe had choir rehersal, Mark and the other youth leaders as well as Jill decoraged the float for the parade, Chloe was in Kings Mtn's parade, and Mark and I bought the rest of the items for the Sunday parade.

Sunday was the parade. Vision left after our Sunday School class, and then left to get the things for the parade that I had to leave at home. Amanda Cole was a huge encourager on the drive to my house and the shelter, telling me God knew every need in our day and that He would meet it, and that if He didn't there was a reason. She even specifically said at one point that she believed we might have avoided a car wreck, and we passed one not long after she said it! We gave out probably 10 gallons of hot chocolate. But not so much coffee!!!!!!!! What's wrong with people! We waited, and waited, and waited, and waited on FOCUS to pass by on their float. The parade started at 2:00, and they passed at 3:45! They were 2 floats from the end! Well, this was outside of my "plan." I had it all mapped out. I was going to do it differently this year. This year I was going to have specific projects for the youth when they arrived to fill that probably 1 and 1/2 hour gap of time when they'd need somthing to do before dinner at the shelter which started at 5:00. Mark asked me Saturday night if I wanted him to make the goody bags. I told him no becuase the youth would do them in this 1 and 1/2 hr. Also, they wre going to help make 600 pigs in a blanket. It was evident by about 4:00 this wouldn't be happening. There were 8 people with Vision. So, it was scramble time. All I could think about were those piggys. I said "OK" we can't do anything until we get these going. It was funny! But Vision (and Jackie H) rocked. They did it, but with no time to spare. The youth arrived within moments of the scheduled time to start. Things were CRAZY. Everybody was saying "What can I do? How can I help?" I was like a dog chasing it's tail. But just like God, He took my chaos and worked it out. Every wing got eaten, there were 600, and I'd say at least 550 of the piggys. I went outside and Richard and Holly and some of the youth were interacting with the people. I had a candle, and we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. I told them that's how quickly Christ's return will be, and one of them said "No, it's quicker than that." I Corinthians 15:51-57

51-57But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I'll probably never fully understand. We're not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it's over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we'll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:

   Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
   Who got the last word, oh, Death?
   Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now?
It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!

We got hugs, and kisses and "thank-you", and I think the youth made an impact and were impacted as well.

You know I felt so inadequate yesterday, and really I was. No, really I was. But what I want to tell you is that God isn't looking at my resume, he's looking at my heart, and he's looking at your's. I believe that a willing and obedient heart are one of the biggest ways we can worship.

God,

Please allow me to see with my spiritual eyes. The world is void of this sight, but I don't want to be. Help me to see what matters, and help me to care.

In Your Name,

Amen