Good Morning?

November 27, 2007

Can you think of the times in your life when you have been exhausted and proud at the same moment? Some that come to mind would be a new mother after an exhausting labor as she looks into her baby’s eyes for the first time, or maybe the new Grandparents that have traveled through the night to see this bundle of joy. Perhaps you might think of the marathon runner as he crosses the finish line or the college student at the end of finals week.

One of those exhausted but very proud moments came for me the day after Thanksgiving. We had come home from Thanksgiving travel late Thursday evening and slept only about four hours before meeting at the church at 3:15 Friday morning. For what insane reason would anybody do that? For us, it was a choice to give up a little of our sleep in order to go to a local business to hand out hot chocolate and coffee to patrons standing in line awaiting the opening of the store. You should have seen their hands shoot up when we asked “who would like a warm cup of coffee or hot chocolate?” From 4:30 to 8:00 we poured and served the hot beverages to cold and grateful Christmas shoppers.

Okay, so you get the exhausted part, but proud? How does that fit in? I was proud of our youth and adults from Woolsey Baptist Church! Some 20 youth braved the early morning cold (yes, our youth were at church at 3:15 a.m., busy at work getting ready for the morning of ministry) with smiles on their faces, ready to serve others and expecting nothing in return. They were not raising money for a project or earning money for a special trip. They were merely out serving others in Jesus name! This is why I was proud. The same is true for our adults. 30 plus adults were on the other side of town giving out cups of coffee and hot chocolate, wrapping Christmas presents and wishing “Merry Christmas” to the thousands coming and going from Wal-Mart. Between our youth and adults, approximately 600 cups of hot chocolate and coffee were served and many, many, Christmas presents were wrapped. As pastor of this great church, I was so proud that you took ministry to the streets.
I was proud that you donated so much Christmas wrapping paper.

I was proud that you gave up sleep and time for others.

I was proud that you were showing love to total strangers.

I was proud to see you engaging them in conversations.

I was proud to see you serving the business proprietors by cleaning up around their places of business.

I was proud to see you helping by gathering up shopping carts for them.

I was proud to see you serving with smiles and joy.

I was proud of Jeremy and Tracy. They were at church when Lisa and I got there Friday morning, already getting the hot chocolate prepared.

I was proud of Clay and Larry. They were at Wal-Mart at 5:00 a.m. getting everything set up and ready and they were there till the end!

I was proud of Melissa Nelms for hosting some of the girls at her home, and staying up with them through the night till time to come to the church.

Thank you, for giving “a cup of cold water” in Jesus name. Or, in our case, a cup of hot chocolate and some neatly wrapped Christmas presents!