My fifteen year old son and I didn’t attend church together this week. We normally go to the 11am service, but I went to the early service so that I could help in the 4th/5th grade classroom where my daughter is during that service. So, he came at 11am with his best friend. After church, we met in the foyer to head home together and eat lunch.
Right when we walked in the door he looked at me and said, “did you happen to donate to the middle school project the pastor was talking about today”? I said, “I did. It wasn’t much but I put all the cash in the offering that I had in my wallet.”
Our pastor is preaching a series called What If? It’s about how being educated and engaged is so important. Not just one or the other.
This week he was talking about being educated about a project we are working on as a church to help a middle school in the Nashville area in their time of need. He wanted us to be educated about who the students, families, teachers, and staff are that attend and work in that school. We watched a video and he brought in a staff member from the school that works on engaging the community with the school to help provide food and other resources for them.
It was a moving service that educated us as well as asked us to engage with them. Listed were several opportunities where we could engage with that community through prayer, giving, and several serving opportunities. It definitely made me think of how I can engage with this middle school and what I can do to help.
Our conversation continued. My son said, “I’m going to get online right now and give. And I think we should really help in other ways too.” I said, yes, that’s great! I didn’t ask how much he gave nor did he offer. He has a little side business he does at home to make some money, so I knew he could at least give a little. I was just thankful for his heart and that he felt like he could contribute and make a difference in this school that’s not too far from us.
This morning I got online to check my bank account as I do most days. My son’s account is linked to mine but I rarely look at it. But at a glance I did notice the balance was down quite a bit. So I clicked on the link and saw that yesterday he had given a significant amount to help that school. I am thankful for his heart and that he couldn’t just sit there and be educated about the problem, he had to engage and do something about it.
How many times do we all sit and listen to the things going on around us, thinking, someone else will volunteer or will meet that need. I know I have had those thoughts before. But the time is now for us to not only be educated about what is going on around us, but to also engage through prayer, giving, or serving.
