Ahhh, Monday. You've been good to me today. Thank you. :)
Sleep eluded me last night, and my fear was that I would drag all day long. Thankfully, however, I did not. I felt refreshed and well rested. It was odd. But I am thankful.
The work day was calm and peaceful. One of my co-workers blessed me with a bag of M&Ms, which I happily shared with all.
My plan for this evening is to simply relax. I rented a movie - Gone, with Amanda Seifried - and hope it is good.
What really made my Monday was waking up to an email from one of my Centerpoint friends. This past weekend my church sponsored our 4th annual Crazy Love Family Day. It's a 100% free event for the community that was birthed out of a desire to give families in our area an opportunity to have a one day mini vacation. This year we were able to give away 1300+ free hot dogs, bags of popcorn, cotton candy, and snow cones. Kids jumped in inflatables, got their faces painted, rode horses, learned how to juggle and make balloon animals, and got to see an aerial acrobat show. The adults were able to register for giveaways, and thanks to our awesome local businesses, we were able to give away over $1000 worth of free stuff!
The point of Crazy Love Family Day is to show the crazy, unbridled love of Jesus to folks who might never experience it anywhere else with no strings attached. We don't preach at them. We don't require them to come to church. We don't stuff their mailboxes full of tracts or show up unannounced at their homes to witness to them. We just show them love for four hours one Saturday a year in hopes that they will uncross their arms long enough to open up their hearts.
And it works.
Back to that email.
My friend shared in the email how one mother had been through the food line several times to get hot dogs for her kids. On her third visit, she asked my friend if she could have a couple of hot dogs for the road. The mother told my friend that she wasn't sure how she was going to feed her family that night, but now she did. She told my friend that she didn't realize there were people/churches who existed and gave so selflessly. Before leaving, the mother said she would see my friend again at church sometime.
My friend also shared a story about a father who had lost his job this summer and was unable to take his family on vacation. He had been praying for an opportunity to do something fun with his kids before the end of summer when one of his kids came home with a flier for Crazy Love Family Day in their backpack. He said it was an answer to his prayers!
One man simply said that the event restored his faith in God.
Wow.
These stories are just a few of the many I've heard over the weekend. Add those to all the stories over the past four years and it is easy to see why crazy love in action is so important!!
So, how was your Monday? If you participated in the Manic Monday Challenge, please link up your blog in the comment section!
4 comments:
Great post on being community in the community! Apparently I can only write when given an assignment! This was a good challenge for me, especially since I wrote it when I was half asleep. And didn't really edit it at all. http://bit.ly/U7eYAs
Thank you so much for participating in the challenge, Tammy! I loved reading your post & love that God is at work in and through the online community. :)
wow, denise! this is awesome! nothing like hearing that you helped spread the love of jesus to make a monday feel a lot less like a monday. crazy love in action indeed!
This event is one of my favorites to participate in because there are so many amazing stories that come out of it. One of my friends began her walk with Christ because of the first one we did four years ago.
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