Good morning…
One week ago I rested like a fly on the wall in the foyer of KIPP Woodson Park Academy, waiting for the staff from PAWkids to arrive. As I sat quietly in a light filled corner, I texted myself snippets of conversations I overheard.
“He’s on the run,” a teacher told a grandmother who had been unexpectedly called to the school. “He put his hands on me and I told him to go to the principal’s office. He ran out the door. Wait here while I continue to search for him.”
“I just brought these kids in from the bus stop,” said the kind deep voice of a big white school guard. The temperature was thirty-one degrees when I left home that morning and five stranded young children – some wearing sweatshirts, some with thin jackets – were brought to an administrator long after the school day had begun. “This is happening every morning,” he said with a sigh, and I was touched by his caring concern.
“There are so many single moms in our community, and I want to start a support group,” said the friendly teacher who welcomed me inside the locked front door. Enjoying a brief conversation, we exchanged names and phone numbers with hopes of creatively collaborating.
Then Larenzia Lawrence (LaTonya Gates’ daughter who organized the Valentine’s Day gathering) and the PAWkids staff team arrived with hot food and gorgeous gifts purchased by generous donations from our written word community. As we set out a beautiful breakfast buffet to express gratitude for the one hundred hardworking KIPP teachers, I was swept up in a wonderful whirlwind.
Seeing these photos now, I remember hearing one of the teachers say to Larenzia, “Thank you so much for these real gifts. You knew exactly what would make us feel special. You make us feel so loved.”
I was disappointed to miss out on the delivery of the 100 Valentine’s Day gift bags we joyfully created for the senior citizens of the Grove Park neighborhoods. LaTonya Gates, founder and director of PAWkids, said many of the seniors expressed feelings of loneliness, isolation, and depression. Some were moved to tears as they receive our gift bags overflowing with tangible love.
Later in the afternoon, a group of us bi-weekly homework helpers thoroughly enjoyed the Valentine’s Day party for the PAWkids’ afternoon enrichment program. The staff told me the following day, “Sue, the volunteers you bring here are so good with our kids. They naturally interact and share such a loving Spirit.”
I am so grateful for the authentic friendships God is building between us. I will always remember Valentine’s Day 2022 as a day brilliantly bursting with the extravagant love of our living Lord.
My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14-19, MSG).
…Sue…
