Good morning…
In the photo above, the words on the wall say it all. “This is our happy place.”
The generosity of people in our community astounds me. Bags of donated items for our annual Secret Santa shop for the PAWkids after-school program appeared at our doorstep all weekend long. I felt the holy privilege of touching each treasure, sorting and organizing all the items, and experiencing the love of God expressed freely through ordinary people. Then two groups of volunteers generously gave their time last night, one group ran the gift shop while the other group led a cool craft project and fed the kids warm lasagna on a drizzly night.
God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us (Ephesians 3:20-21, MSG).
With God’s Spirit working deeply within us, the kids had a ball choosing three Christmas gifts for their loved ones, bagging them, wrapping them, writing names on their gift tags. Our volunteers thoroughly enjoyed shepherding the exuberant process along. Great, great fun was had by all.
The generosity of people in our community astounds me, again and again. Through our creative, collaborative work, we witness the love of God gently at work. Joy is contagious as we live out the wisdom of Deuteronomy 15:10-11a (MSG): Give freely and spontaneously. Don’t have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God, your God’s, blessing in everything you do, all your work and ventures. There are always going to be poor and needy people among you. So I command you: Always be generous, open purse and hands, give to your neighbors.
As we each give freely and spontaneously, we trigger God’s power. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who played a part in last night’s blessing.
But…God’s generosity does not end there. The leftover items from our Secret Santa shop will be wrapped up by the kids and taken out to the senior citizens in the Grove Park community. What a fun way to spread cheer this holiday season! Might generous giving become the “happy place” for all of us, young and old, black and white, in our Bankhead and Buckhead neighborhoods?
And…This morning, our Mission Circle from Northside Church will meet at a member’s home to fill large Christmas bags (nearly as big as me) with the gifts we have purchased from the personal wish list of the thirty-two PAWkids students. These wrapped bags of gifts will be given out at the PAWkids Christmas party on December 20th. Again, thank you to all involved.
One of the donated items for our Santa shop sums up God’s invitation to all. “Christmas is really God’s pattern for living, to be followed each day with unselfish giving.” The generosity of people in our community astounds me, again and again and again.
What a privilege to trigger together God’s everyday blessings.
…Sue…
