Good morning…
All day long, God was connecting our dots.
The image above came to me from a loyal reader right after I wrote our blog post, Prevent Suicide, How? What a perfect prayer to connect our dots. Loving Father, Let us pray that those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts might find the support, care and love they need in their community, and be open to the beauty of life. She simply wrote, “We know way too many parents who have lost children to suicide. Thankful for those who are talking about it to make a change.”
Then I opened a letter from our pastor, Dr. Bill Burch, written to the Northside Church family. In part, Bill wrote:
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Many in our community have lost Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits due to the federal government shutdown. Northside Church is donating $10,000 from the Shepherd’s Fund to four of our strategic mission partners, including:
Hope Atlanta
Good Samaritan Clinic
PAWkids
Peace Prep Academy
I invite you to make additional donations to feed the food insecure in the metro area.
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In response to our recent blog post How Can We Help?, our written word community had done just that, making additional donations to feed the food insecure in the Grove Park area of our community. The night before, I had taken over $4,000 worth of your gift cards and checks to PAWkids for their food drive. Thank you for being part of God’s creative solution. Our vulnerable neighbors are so grateful for our amazing generosity during this volatile time.
Then scrolling back on emails, I discovered an exclamation point from God. Henri Nouwen had begun the day with this encouraging devotional message.
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Seeing God by Henri Nouwen from Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life
The Spirit of God in us recognizes God in the world. The eyes and ears by which we see God in others are in fact spiritual sensitivities that allow us to receive our neighbors as messengers of God. Thus, to go to the poor is to go to the Lord.
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Connecting our dots with God, day after day, we receive our neighbors as messengers of God. As we go to the poor, those poor in spirit struggling with suicidal thoughts and those fiscally poor struggling to put food on the table, we, my friends, are going to the Lord.
“God blesses those who are poor
and realize their need for him,
for the Kingdom of Heaven
is theirs.”
– Matthew 5:3, (NLT)
May we all be blessed as we see God in the world, realizing our need for him, witnessing the Kingdom of Heaven constantly connecting our dots.
…Sue…
