Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Living Love

She said, “There’s one for every year I’ve known you.”

They were from my “other” daughter.

Roses were waiting in the entryway when I came in from church on Mother’s Day.

She didn’t leave a note but, since Cliff and the kids had already given me my gift…I got suspicious!

So I texted her and asked if she had anything to do with them.

She texted back, “Oh, good! The cat didn’t get them!”

 

She came by yesterday (Monday). Sometimes she just drops by.

We were eating dinner (her timing is impeccable – like any single young adult!).

Cliff said, “Are you hungry?” She said, “Yes.”

He put food from his plate onto hers, and she ate.

I pointed to the roses I’d put in a vase and asked “Did you see them?”

She said, “Yep! There is one for every year I’ve known you.”

I hadn’t counted them. But her math was accurate.

We met when she was 12 or 13 y/o.

Back then, I didn’t really have any idea that she was paying attention.

Apparently she was.

Her mother was the director of the preschool in the church I served in Asheville. By osmosis, she just “gets” children.

Sometime after she was old enough to drive, she became our “nanny,” and – although there was no ceremony – she became an adopted member of our family.

 

Years later, when we moved from Asheville to Charlotte, it wasn’t long before she moved here, too.

Now, she is a professional nanny (it’s just in her blood).

Her “nanny-family” lives fairly near us…So, from time to time she comes by, lets herself in, hollers “hey” to the kids, pours herself some apple juice and we chat.

I don’t think she’s ever missed one of our kids’ birthday parties or Halloween.

Friday is Henry’s 10th birthday. She is making the cake and playing laser tag with him and his friends (so that I don’t have to!).

 

Lucy will soon be the same age that she (our other daughter) was when we first met…And Lucy is paying attention.

What she sees is someone who is glad to see her every time she sees her.

What she sees is someone who knows her name and her hopes.

What she sees is someone who listens and celebrates and takes her seriously and laughs with her and shows up when she says she will.

 

The congregation I serve, just received a “recognition” from the Center for Community Transitions (CCT).

CCT is an organization that facilitates the transitioning of formerly incarcerated men and women back into their families, work and society.

But, in addition to that, the CCT also ministers (my word, not theirs – although I know that the director sees it as a ministry) with the families of currently-incarcerated folks (in my short-sightedness, I never gave them much thought).

Every third Tuesday, the CCT hosts a dinner for these families. “It’s really all about the kids,” one person says.

A year or so ago, the CCT  changed locations and needed a new place for these Third Tuesday Dinners to take place.

We had the space. So, now they are here.

I’ve been just a couple times to the dinners. But, there is more joy in that room than most anywhere I go.

I’m not really sure why we received any recognition…We just said, “Sure, we have space,” and opened our doors.

It makes me kind of sad, that that seems to be a big deal.

 

It’s the same thing with our Drop In Center – our ministry with the mentally ill, where once a month we open doors to about 60-80 mentally ill men and women for the morning – they eat and laugh and get a little food to take with them, and are something other than their label for the day.

Folks have been coming for decades to be part of it!

It’s not that big of a deal – except that it seems to be.

 

A place where there are folks who are glad to see you every time they see you.

Who know your name and your hopes.

Who listen and celebrate and take you seriously and laugh with you and show up when they say they will.

 

Our mission statement is: “St. Luke’s Lutheran Church – Living and Sharing God’s Love.”

Apparently, even though it doesn’t seem like it, that’s a really big deal. And the extra-cool part is that folks are paying attention…And as simple as it is, simply opening your door and sharing love changes lives (Granted, you may not come home to more than a dozen roses – but your life will be changed and so will the lives of others!).

 

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