putting feet to our prayers

This year I had the honor & privilege of working alongside 30 other individuals from my community during the National Day of Prayer's annual community Care & Clean Day this past Saturday.  We split into different groups and tackled several different projects.  My group walked the grounds of Tiffin Elementary School picking up trash, then joined another group picking up trash alongside the train tracks between Eastern Ave. and Main St.  Once that job was complete, I joined the biggest group who had the daunting task of restoring a mural that was badly chipped and had been painted over by graffiti.

This is the mural before....

...and this is the restored mural!

(photos courtesy of Jeannette VanBuskirk)

I've been involved in the Care & Clean day for the past several years.  In fact, I wrote this post about my involvement a couple years ago.  Each year I learn something new, and this year was no exception.  Here are a couple of things that I learned:

Many hands make light work!  My friend who led the crazy crew of painters this past weekend wasn't quite sure that four hours would be enough time to finish the mural restoration project.  But, with as many people who showed up to help, four hours was plenty of time to finish the project.  Not only was it enough time, but the finished project looks amazing!

Believers long for unity!  The group of 30 individuals that worked together this past weekend represented about 4-5 different churches from the community.  These churches have different denominational backgrounds, different styles of worship, and different ways of doing things.  But one thing is clear - believers in this community long for unity.  There is a strong desire to be THE church working together, not a bunch of churches doing their own thing.

There is a big need for the church to put feet to our prayers!  The church loves to pray about things, which is very much needed.  Sometimes, though, we can simply skip prayer and DO SOMETHING.  One just has to open there eyes to see the needs of the people and of the community around us.  There will always be a neighborhood or two where trash constantly needs picked up, or where people need fed or clothed, or whatever.  It's time we put feet to our prayers and just BE JESUS to our community!

One belief of mine that hasn't changed through all the years of helping with the Care & Clean day is this: "small things done with great love can change the world."  Mother Teresa was a wise woman who put feet to her prayers daily.  And she changed the world, one person at a time.

Tell me, how have you been putting feet to your prayers lately?