ministry - It's a Vivas Thing!

Feb 18 2017

When they notice…

Today was one of those days that make you think as a mother. You know….where you wonder if you are making the right decision as a parent?

It all started when I picked up the Drama Queen from work…yes, she is old enough to have a job now. Unbelievable! Anyway, we were on our way to the store, when we impulsively decided to stop and have a bite of lunch. While there, she of course, ordered way too much food because her eyes are bigger than her stomach. So, she packed it all up and away we went.

As we pulled into Wally world, a man walked by her window with a bag of freshly made tamales. (Ok…please, this is not a political post, so no comments, thank you!) It startled her and I heard her say something excitedly to me. It took me a moment, and then I realized she was yelling, “Tamales, mom!” (Yes..we are one of THOSE people, who love to buy fresh tamales from a Walmart parking lot!) Suddenly, I heard myself exclaim, “I love Walmart parking lot tamales!” as we jumped out of the car. I used the little Spanish I knew and headed into shop and get some cash.

We quickly made our purchases and headed out, only to hear her exclaim, “Mom, he’s being arrested!”

And it went downhill from there. She was so sad, wanted me to talk to the officer and see if I could help him out. Now, as an adult, I know better than to walk up to an arresting officer and start up a conversation, and we did have a good conversation about soliciting and why it is illegal and health code and her brother’s bout with ecoli….so yes, we honestly do get it. But still, we drove out of there with a heap of sadness on our hearts, feeling helpless to help someone who obviously could use a good samaritan about that moment. And I wondered to myself, how could I have handled it differently, could I have done something….what kind of message was I sending to my teen?

And as we pulled around the corner, we pulled up next to a homeless man standing in the rain with a sign that read, “Help me!”

Immediately, she reached down to her box of still warm leftovers and instructed me to roll down my window and hand him her remaining lunch. Which I did, and to which he immediately thanked us profusely and tore open the box and began to scarf it down.

Here’s the thing…I am not writing to say, “Look what we did today.” But it really got me to thinking…and it brought back to mind the many instances where my children have stopped me to pray with a stranger or have jumped out of a car to help someone who has fallen out of their wheelchair in the middle of the road. The times we have made up bags to pass out to the homeless who stand on the street corner, collect and deliver blankets to those who sleep on the streets in the cold, or to purchase a card for the widow across the street so she knows someone cares about her.

Sometimes my children notice things that may hurt them to see and it makes my mama’s heart sad for them; but it also opens them up to the possibility of making a change; or helping someone; of having compassion and a heart to serve when these situations might otherwise go unnoticed.

And I am grateful on days like today when I second-guess myself as a parent, that the opportunity arises for me be reminded that I must do some things right, because I have amazing children that do not hesitate to put others before themselves. But more importantly, do not hesitate to notice those that could use a little encouragement as they go about their day.

Mar 16 2013

Phyllis

So today, the Smart One and I were leaving the mall when we noticed a well-dressed, elderly lady pushing a button as she looked around lost. We stopped and asked her if she needed help.

She replied, “Can you hear it?”

We realized she was pushing the button to sound her car so that she could find it in the parking lot. So, we walked with her thru the parking lot while she kept pushing the button and we listened to find the car. As we slowly walked around, we learned a bit about her.

She didn’t find anything to purchase because everything was too expensive.

She’s lived here for 25 years.

Her husband passed away two years ago and she has no family except for a brother in Chicago and another brother in San Diego.

Her husband was a Russian Jew.

She thought I was Italian. 🙂

She thought my son was a perfect gentlemen and commented that you don’t see that much these days.

She also commented he could look like a girl…ha ha (I don’t think so!)

She talked about the community center she visits.

She thought I had a good name and spoke of someone she used to know that had my name.

And then we found her car and walked her to the door. We said our good-byes while she thanked us for getting her to her car and for taking time out of our day to talk with her.

As we watched her drive off, I was reminded of how thankful I am to have a large family. I hope that I’ll never be alone…and I wish I had offered to have lunch with her another day or…something.

Too late. I’m sure she would have had some fascinating conversation.

I googled “Russian Jew” to see what would show up. I came across some pretty interesting articles, one of which said,

“They were raised Jewish. They have Jewish names. They once suffered for being Jewish in the Soviet Union. Now they suffer for being Russians in Israel.”

I bet she would have had some interesting conversation.

As I sit her tonight reflecting on the day, I think of some of the little opportunities God has given us thru the years.

My children and I praying with a heartbroken man in Roberto’s Taco shop.

My children and I helping a homeless person who had fallen off of his wheelchair in the middle of a busy road.

Buying hamburgers, muffins and other items as we’ve come across homeless people thru the years.

Going into the heart of homeless and passing out food and blankets on the streets and corners where most people avoid going.

My children coming to me through the years, asking me to drop whatever I am doing because someone needs us now. And so we go.

If there is one thing I would pray for, it would be that my children will continue to look for the opportunity to notice that which most people would choose to ignore, and continue to stop and take the time to brighten someone’s day. We never know the impact that we have on others. While a smile or a short conversation may seem like nothing to us, it is more than likely God using us to minister in ways we would never think of.

And in doing so, allowing Him to make a difference in our own lives.

Jul 13 2010

Camp, Day 2

Day 2 of camp was probably one of , my favorite days. It was our first official full day, so we really didn't know what to expect. There were however, two things, that would happen this day. The first was that it was one of our girl's birthday; the second was it was water day at rec…and we were told to be prepared to get soaked.

Ok then!

At breakfast, birthday girl needed a little glamour to get the day going. In order to get her day started out the right way, we announced her birthday to the dining room and had a combined effort of singing, "Happy Birthday!" We also made sure her birthday was announced in front of the 1900 teens attending worship, although they did say her last name wrong. (I'm sorry for laughing, dear.)

And then there was recreation. Not sure what to expect, we threw on some shorts and t-shirts and headed over.

Our youth group was split into two family groups. We still did everything together, but for recreation, we were on opposite teams. It'd probably be a good thing to know that we are all pretty competitive. I'll also state, that as a leader, I have the option of not participating, (instead delegating) if I don't want to. Yeah, well, ok.

Our first game was holding a thick pvc pipe full of holes over a bucket. We had to work as a team to cover the holes while other's poured cups of water down the pipe. First one to fill the bucket wins. We didn't do too bad and I managed to stay completely dry.

I may get them a bit jumbled as we went quickly from one game to the next. I'll say this: for the first two or three games, I stayed dry. And then it happened.

We came to a game where we had to run to a trash can and fill our hair with water, then run to our bucket and ring it out. The first team to fill their bucket wins. Ah ha! Birthday Girl has long, thick, hair! She'd also just stubbed her toe and wasn't really up to running back and forth. (She did anyway!) We had another girl who had long hair, so she was up for the challenge, too. Our other family group's team was a bunch of shorter hair, so I thought we had it in the bag. But then, things started to really become well, um, competitive…and before I knew it, I was ducking my long hair into the trash and rining it into the bucket, too! And I was, um, well, rather wet. And laughing.

And we headed to the next game. Which involved a trash can full of water, a bowl, a sponge, and a bucket. Rules: line up up in an assembly. One at bucket, one with sponge, one with bowl. Person with bowl runs to trash can, fills up bowl. Throws bowl of water from designated spot to person with sponge at designated spot. Person with sponge catches water from bowl with sponge. Sponge person then throws sponge at person with bucket. If sponge lands in bucket, person with bucket rings out sponge and they all move forward a spot. If sponge misses, person with bucket rings sponge over head, then moves on. Object: fill the bucket.

I'm sure it all started innocently enough. Our two family groups were standing on the same side, next to each other. In order to get to the trash can of water, we had to pass by each other. And it was a race, after all. And we were wet. And hot. And did I mention competitive?

Somehow, someone's bowl of water was, I'm sure of it, mistakenly bumped into. And then, somehow as we were running back and forth, we just kept spilling each other's water. And then somehow, we all ended up soaked and lost track of what we were supposed to be doing. And then somehow, we were in the absolute best waterfight that we've ever been in! (I felt sorry for the poor referee who gave up on us.) And somehow, we were in fits of hysterical laughter. And boy, did we have fun!

We moved on to the other games and followed the rules. We played water dodge ball and other stuff, and then it ended. And we headed over to the tree to listen to our Red Rumble leader share the Word with us.

And I won't say who, but one of those trouble making teens of ours thought it was funny to toss a bucket of water unexpectly over my head!

Later, we talked about our fun and agreed while it was a great bonding moment, we definately would set the example and follow all the rules the rest of the week.

And much later, we ended the day with hostess cupcakes, hearts, and laughter to celebrate the birthday. And we laughed and laughed at pillows and popping cupcakes and a near food fight.

Yeah, these types of days are just a little part of what makes camp so fun!

May 24 2010

Making a Difference

Have you ever noticed how when you're focused on how much your life is…well…not going so well, God shows you someone's whose is worse?

Last night, as we were cleaning up after youth, I felt an urge to take the last six homeless ministry bags with me. But I ignored the urge, thinking I still had one in the van and that I'd grab some more next weekend. These bags have juice/water, snacks, hygiene items (like soap and mouthwash), and a personal note of encouragement in them. The idea is to carry them in your vehicle, and then when you pass a homeless person on the street, you can hand them a bag of encouragement. I knew I had one bag left, so I ignored that urge.

Fast forward to today. I had to run a couple of errands. Today didn't start out too great and I've had a lot on my mind. One of which is trying really hard to know what God is trying to say to me and listening when He says it. I was waiting in the deli line with an older gentleman. We waited for quite a while, and finally someone noticed and came over and asked who was first in line. I replied that the gentleman was.

He replies, "And the first will come last and the last will come first."

I simply smiled, yet was reminded of this scripture:

"So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but
few chosen."

Matthew 20:16

As I was pulling out of the store parking lot, I had to stop at the light. Next to me was a homeless woman, with a sign that said,

"I have no home or food. Please help."

I rolled down my window and handed her the bag as she quickly said "thank you."

And then I noticed several other homeless people all around me. I had no more bags to give and instantly thought of last night, when I had the *urge* to take the remaining bags with me. But I didn't. I wish I had listened to that still, small voice.

Lately, God has been speaking to me about something in particular. It's not something I'm comfortable with, but I'm trying hard to listen. I think today was a little reminder; perhaps a test. I didn't do so well.

What I can say is this. I would urge all of my readers to make up their own bags to pass out. If you're local and you attend our church, I'd encourage you to bring in items so that we can make up more bags as we are getting low. We fill the bags with juice or water, snacks (like granola bars), small bottles of hygiene items (such as mouthwash, tooth paste, body soap). We place a note card inside, with a note of encouragement from our youth. And we keep them in our vehicles for those street corners, when we wish we'd had something but didn't. Now you can.

And if you are feeling a bit sorry for yourself today, I'd suggest you open up your eyes and take a look around. Make a difference. You might just find yourself feeling a bit better about your own circumstances!

For more information on this ministry, you can read this: B-boo

⁴⁰"The King will reply,

'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers of mine, you did for me.'"

Matthew 25:40