A Strategy for Showing God To The Weary and Vulnerable

My dear friend Carol saw in past blogs that I run a monthly art class at a nursing home. She told me she had a fail-safe art project that she would love to do with me one month. Yesterday, we ran the class together and it got RAVE reviews from the residents.

Unlike what happens at most of my classes, not a single resident said, "I don't think I can do this." Every single one of them created a beautiful stained glass vase which the incredibly generous Carol filled with flowers for Mother's Day. Carol brought every single needed supply, including wipes for their hands. She thought of everything to ensure that these seasoned students would create something beautiful, a reflection of the God who created and loves them.

For these elderly folk who are sometimes forgotten by their family members, I know that this morning when the nurses bring the vases with the flowers to the residents' rooms, they will feel loved. Both Carol and I pray it is the love of Jesus that shines out of the beautiful vases. It is the love of Jesus that compels Carol to do the many kind things she does for others.

When I first met her about twenty years ago, our children were young. Now they are grown. Then, we shared a mutual passion for those who are wounded, hurting, or in need of someone (anyone) to reach out to them. Now, our passion remains and it was lovely to watch my dear friend speak so tenderly and offer so much joy to these residents that I have come to know and love.

What Carol brought to the nursing home that day was a beautiful strategy for anyone seeking to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a lonely, hopeless, fragile, and wounded world:

1. Desire to show God in places where hope is not always in abundant supply.
2. Prepare, not only with prayer, but with tangible resources.
3. Meet the people where they are, with the skills they possess, and the varying abilities to comprehend. Show them a vision of what could be that takes them beyond their circumstances.
4. Present each step clearly, so they see that it is safe to step forward in faith and trust the message and the messenger.
5. Smile, overflow with love and kindness, and remind them of the presence of God through which we can do all things.
6. Be at their side, if they will let you, and walk them through what they are so certain they cannot navigate alone.

It's the same basic plan I use each day as I minister to the abortion minded women on the sidewalks of the abortion center.

I don't always keep up with all that is going on in Carol's life. However, every time I see her, it is as though I just saw her a moment ago. I may not know the specifics of her life, but I know her heart. It is a heart that seeks after God and always has.

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If you don't have a friend like that, I recommend you find one. And if you need a friend like that, maybe join the Cities4Life volunteers on the sidewalks of the abortion center. We could use the help, and what a better time to start than the week of Mother's Day?
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For information on training, email me at vkaseorg@cities4life.com
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Proverbs 18:24

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.