From Susan Hillis:
Do you remember our friend James from our HOPE AT HOME 2012 Conference? We commissioned him to write and perform a Spoken Word, entitled Naked Hope. Well, if you didn't make it to the conference (or you want to listen again), click HERE to listen and read some provoking words of HOPE.
So, that is all to say that James shared a testimony last Sunday at church, telling a story of a recent dream he had. In the dream, there was a man who had seen much better days, walking through a store kind of like WalMart. As he walked, this man in the dream realized how much he needed, and wanted, and so wished he had what it took to get it. I imagine the man walking past the strawberries, thinking, "oh, the taste of strawberries is a distant memory; it would be so nice to have some," or "those warm gloves would be so nice to have as the weather is quickly turning colder." Unbeknowst to the down-and-out-fella-in-need, there was a stranger in the store following him at a modest distance, putting in his cart each item the needy fella had looked at with longing. When the needy man walked up to the check out counter with his one meager purchase, the kind stranger behind him pulled up and unloaded his cart full of the things the man wished he could have bought. He paid for everything, then gave it to him as a gift -- a gift much too large to manage alone. So the generous stranger helped the needy fella get all the purchases to his car. Others in the store who had observed the event were in awe, completely distracted from their own shopping by this man's extravagant kindness.
Distracting Kindness
The dream was an allegory of the kindness of God in providing for our friend James, after many months of many struggles with work, transportation, income, and college. James shared that little by little, each need has been provided for. By the kind of kindness that is distracting....distracting kindness.
May we, each of us, have eyes to see such distracting kindnesses of God in our own lives, and may we have hearts like that stranger in the dream, to pass it on.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us-- all the days of our lives! (Ps 23). Surely distracting kindness shall follow us.
Lord, we love your distracting kindness. We feel so happy when someone on facebook 'likes' something we write or a picture we post. Lord, thank you that you spend our days 'liking' us! May we pass along Your distracting kindness in an absolutely effusive way over these days, to absolutely everyone who walks through the door! Thank you Lord for YOUR DISTRACTING KINDNESS to me!
Do you remember our friend James from our HOPE AT HOME 2012 Conference? We commissioned him to write and perform a Spoken Word, entitled Naked Hope. Well, if you didn't make it to the conference (or you want to listen again), click HERE to listen and read some provoking words of HOPE.
So, that is all to say that James shared a testimony last Sunday at church, telling a story of a recent dream he had. In the dream, there was a man who had seen much better days, walking through a store kind of like WalMart. As he walked, this man in the dream realized how much he needed, and wanted, and so wished he had what it took to get it. I imagine the man walking past the strawberries, thinking, "oh, the taste of strawberries is a distant memory; it would be so nice to have some," or "those warm gloves would be so nice to have as the weather is quickly turning colder." Unbeknowst to the down-and-out-fella-in-need, there was a stranger in the store following him at a modest distance, putting in his cart each item the needy fella had looked at with longing. When the needy man walked up to the check out counter with his one meager purchase, the kind stranger behind him pulled up and unloaded his cart full of the things the man wished he could have bought. He paid for everything, then gave it to him as a gift -- a gift much too large to manage alone. So the generous stranger helped the needy fella get all the purchases to his car. Others in the store who had observed the event were in awe, completely distracted from their own shopping by this man's extravagant kindness. Distracting Kindness
The dream was an allegory of the kindness of God in providing for our friend James, after many months of many struggles with work, transportation, income, and college. James shared that little by little, each need has been provided for. By the kind of kindness that is distracting....distracting kindness.
May we, each of us, have eyes to see such distracting kindnesses of God in our own lives, and may we have hearts like that stranger in the dream, to pass it on.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us-- all the days of our lives! (Ps 23). Surely distracting kindness shall follow us.
Lord, we love your distracting kindness. We feel so happy when someone on facebook 'likes' something we write or a picture we post. Lord, thank you that you spend our days 'liking' us! May we pass along Your distracting kindness in an absolutely effusive way over these days, to absolutely everyone who walks through the door! Thank you Lord for YOUR DISTRACTING KINDNESS to me!
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