ON Sunday the 30th we canceled church as we know it. We took the 1,200 it takes to rent the school, divided it among everyone that showed up, and asked them to find a way to be a blessing to people in the community. This is their stories....
This is what Nate, Kyle and I did (or attempted to do) with our money on Sunday and some follow-ups:
We had cash and a box of food. Our first trip was to a grocery store over in Sterling Park. We offered to help a family with groceries but she would not accept. Kyle and Nate chose at that point to ride around through Sterling Park over near Park View high school. We had no particular direction or plan. Kyle would just say turn right, turn left and so forth and I would follow. He asked me to stop at a house that had a single car in the driveway. We could see a shadow of someone pass the window. They had a small nativity scene in the front yard. The three of us walked to the door and rang the bell. This young Hispanic woman, probably late twenties early thirties, came to the door all bundled in a coat. I don't speak any spanish at all and she spoke very little english. I relied on Nate and Kyle's beginning spanish to get us somewhere. I told her who we were and that we had picked her house to leave the food. At first she thought we were trying to sell her something. With God's help we helped her to understand that we were GIVING her food. She thought that she should pick an item. Her face lit up when she realized that we were giving it all to her. The home was very neat and clean, sparsely furnished and really cold. As I said she was all bundled up and there were no lights or anything like TV or radio in the house. I don't know if she was trying to save energy or if she didn't have any. One thing was clear, she was pleased and the english Thank You was clear as a bell.
Met you guys at Buffalo Wings then....
From there we went to Target in Sterling with the intent of buying a gift card (which we did - that story later) As we walked in the door, Kyle overheard a woman saying to her husband "We really have to get him some shoes." Kyle decided to go tell the woman who he was and offer to buy her son's shoes. We walked with them through the store. Nate and Kyle talked to the kids and the parents. They explained what they were doing and that they just wanted to help. The woman did not accept the money. She told the boys that she thought they could find someone who could use it more. However, she asked about the church and said that she wanted to make sure that her children grew up learning to give and be aware of others.
Kyle then saw a little boy crying over a toy and went again and introduced himself to the Mom and offered to buy the little car for the boy. Once again, she did not accept, but was very interested in what they were doing. (She was trying to teach him a lesson, not that she couldn't buy it.)
We then went to the Mall to purchase to Christmas candles for three ladies in our neighborhood. One was for a lady whose husband just passed away three weeks ago. They were both in their seventies with children living out of state. She is German and still speaks with a strong accent. Her husband was the "friendly one" always waving at everybody. She is not viewed as the friendly one. She is lonely and very sad. We went to visit with the candle (totally unnecssary but warming) She was happy to have someone around. Come to find out, she is pretty friendly just old school German I guess. Nate and Kyle have pledged to help her decorate for the holidays and help out around her house with little chores. The other candle was purchased to two widowed ladies that live together down the street. We had not taken the opportunity to introduce ourselves (we just moved in 6 months ago) They were thrilled. The boys are going to help them around the house and decorate too.
Finally, the last piece was the gift card. We have next door neighbors that we had not met. We didn't even know until a few weeks ago that they had two boys. Both about the age of Nate and Kyle but both autistic. They are never outside. From neighborhood rumor (which is a nono on my list) they are afraid of the boys getting hurt or being picked on. We have now met them, they seem to be really nice people. The kids like turtles, hide and seek, and ball. The boys in the neighborhood played man hunt almost every night this summer. The Dad said his oldest son would sit at the window and watch. Nate has plans for going over to visit and play with the boys on a regular basis. Kyle wants to get them a turtle. Conclusion to be seen.
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