FRIENDS SEEKING US OUT

I have been so blessed by the people at King's Church. We've been here for only 2 church services but at each service individual people who we have not met deliberately came to us to offer help in some way.

The first Sunday and woman named Parmy came to Chris before the service started when she saw him sitting alone. He happened to be struggling physically with some pain at that moment and he had just had his wheelchair stop working earlier that morning, preventing him from being able to drive it by himself. She said that he looked a bit down and she wanted to come make him feel welcomed and encouraged. After talking to him for a few minutes she told us that she would be happy to go grocery shopping for us any evening that we needed. She works full time and has children and a husband of her own to care for but she made herself available to us every single night of the week.
Amazing Love and Compassion.


(Parmy and Caleb at the park watching bulldozers.....she patiently explained all the construction work they were doing while Caleb stared in amazement!)

This past Sunday a man named Steve and his wife Charlotte approached Chris and I in church. After introducing themselves they said that they have a park/museum that they want to take us to that gives a lot of English history but also has ducks, birds, sheep, cows, and chicken to entertain Caleb and Alethia. They said it's a very good example of English countryside. They both work and they have 4 children, but they arranged their work schedules to take us there today and, not only that, they paid for every expense of the trip - what generosity! After spending a delightful day together they offered to take us to London for a day trip and to another petting zoo/farm for the kids to experience more. Isn't that incredible?



(Caleb and Steve making actual flour in a mill. What was funny is that after they made it and we told Caleb he made flour, he ran out of the building to the first "flower" that he saw and said, "I made that!".......Hmmmm, he didn't quite understand it but he had fun!)









Here's what I see in each of these people and in others as well......they are SEEKING OUT individuals whom they can help. They are PAYING ATTENTION to the people who cross ther paths. We happened to be the recipients this week and I'm very grateful for it. But I would bet that this isn't the first time that they've offered help to someone. This makes me take notice because I really do focus on managing my own home, family, and schedule and I rarely pay attention to individuals around me who I could give to. Now, I know that my life is busy and I can completely rationalize this behavior, but do I really want to rationalize it? Isn't life more about our attitude along the journey of life? These people are SEEKING OUT, paying close attention, to those around them. And because they've chosen to look at the people around them, God is able to lead them to take action and offer help in some way to those people.

So today I've learned a new perspective - to watch the people around me and watch for an opportunity to help them or show love in some way. I bet that even though I'm "busy" God will show me HOW I can show love. It may be some type of service requiring energy, or it may be as simple as a smiling hello and an offer for a hug. I'll never know though, if I don't open my eyes to see.

Thank you Lord for the gift of today and the gift of new friends. And thank you for the lesson in love.