Gratitude Comes from the Heart

I think we've all felt some frustration with the Christmas season creeping over other holidays. Holiday decorations begin to show up in stores as early as September. Overall, as a holiday, Thanksgiving has always seemed overshadowed by Christmas, a time of giving gifts and celebrating with family. However, the truth is that the "spirit of Christmas" would be lacking without the prior presence of Thanksgiving. Peace, true peace, comes from a recognition of our many blessings, an acknowledgment that those wonderful things owe their existence to a Source greater than ourselves.

 

This Thanksgiving, try setting down the "Black Friday" sales flyers, turning off the game (at least for a few minutes), and taking time to count your blessings. There's no need to take turns around a table or scrounge up something that makes you sound deeply spiritual. Find a quiet place, away from the noise and the rush and the "busyness" to really examine your heart and life for the good things you'll find there.

Finding the Balance with Compassion

In a recent article, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was quoted as saying "let your heart break." She was addressing that awkward feeling of paralyzing guilt when you look at the troubles of others and compare it with your own life.

It is very easy to find bad news. There is no difficulty in finding people who need help. Often times, we can become overwhelmed by the heart breaks and tragedy that are a part of the fallen world in which we live. The way many people deal with this is to compartmentalize. We find this often as a non-profit. There are communication opportunities available for businesses that are not available for us. People are hesitant to "mix" happy, fun events with awareness of real problems. "That just brings everybody down...right?" We feel guilty enjoying the blessings of our life when faced with the reality that there are people who don't have those blessings. However, we can't just ignore very real needs in our community.

So, what is the answer?

The answer is to let your heart break. Feel compassion. This is healthy! It's okay to want to do something. Just as it is okay not to take on the weight of doing everything. No one can do everything, not even Melinda and Bill Gates. But we can all do something.

Choose a passion. Don't let guilt be the motivating factor in any decision making process. Let me repeat that: don't let guilt be the motivating factor in any decision making process. Be wise in how and where and why you offer help. Sometimes, our impulsive gestures, based on fleeting feelings of guilt, actually cause more harm than help. It's okay to think about things.

My hope is that when you support a non-profit, like the City Rescue Mission, you truly feel you are part of a team, working toward something you believe in. We encourage you, if you'd like to know more about the Mission and how we're meeting needs in our community, come for a visit! On the first Thursday of every month, we have a director's luncheon. You'll have the opportunity to talk with Mission staff, visit our facility, and hear from guests how supporters of the Mission have made a difference in their lives.

http://www.bearescuer.com/lunch.htm

The Story of a Mouse

When I began working at the City Rescue Mission, nearly 10 years ago, I helped out in the office by processing donations. Every once in a while, a card would arrive with no name. There might be a money order tucked inside a partial envelope with the sticker of this little mouse. It took me a few times to realize this donation was "anony-mouse." This unnamed donor was not the only person to give in honor of this furry, little fellow. Hardly a day goes by that something doesn't come to the Mission, whether it's money or a needed item, that is donated anonymously. These donors, as with most of our donors, don't ask for recognition, but that doesn't mean we don't recognize the importance of their gift. We are grateful to all of our fellow rescuers. Our guests are grateful. Thank you for the difference you make every day in the lives of women, children, and men in need. God bless you!

The Impact of a Life

It was just a few words, written on a slip of paper, and tucked into an envelope with a donation. We occasionally receive notes from supporters and are always humbled and blessed by their encouraging words. These words, however, were especially poignant.

Just a line to let you know why my thoughts and prayers are for the Rescue Mission.

My brother, who was 19 years old and a Marine, was on his way to war in Korea. He went into the Mission in Chicago and he gave his life to the Lord. He was baptized at the marine base in California before he was shipped out. He was killed the last day of the war.

 

I will be 92 in a few days, but praise the Lord, because of that Mission, I will soon see my brother again. His name was Robert McConnell.

 

Thank all of your workers for what you are doing for the Lord Jesus.

 

We've all heard the analogy about ripples on the water, and how one action can continue out to affect many other lives. The City Rescue Mission impacts hundreds of lives every day, but it is the generosity and compassion of our fellow rescuers, Mission supporters, that enable us to provide food, shelter, and hope to our guests. Each of those individual rescuers may feel that what they are doing is small and unimportant, but you never know the difference made by a single decision.

 

Robert McConnell's life was changed forever by a brief visit to that Mission in Chicago. His sister's life was changed when she received a note from the Mission and learned of her brother's decision for Christ. Her decision to support the City Rescue Mission, in honor of her brother, has no doubt resulted in many lives being changed here in our community.

 

The decisions you make today can make a difference. They don't have to be monumental or involve press releases or fanfare. They may even seem small and unimportant, but the result could change someone else's life forever.

"Brother, Saul..."

Recently, during our regular Wednesday night Bible study, our Pastor covered Acts 9. For us, looking back on Acts as ancient history, we know the "rest of the story" and interpret what we read based on what we know will happen. However, if we open our eyes of understanding and really look at what is happening in this section of Christian history, we see the very first steps in the transformation of a young Christian persecutor named Saul into the Christian hero he became as "Paul."

In this passage, Ananias, seemingly a side note in Paul's testimony, steps out in tremendous faith, to take a message of hope and forgiveness to a man responsible for so much evil. We know Saul's heart had already been changed. We know all the amazing things he would do for the name of Christ. The miracles he would perform, the sermons he would preach, the Inspired letters he would write. We know that Jesus had already performed a miracle in his life, but Ananias only knew that God had a plan for Saul.

When he goes to the home where a blinded Saul--broken and probably afraid--has found temporary refuge, Ananias utters one of the most beautiful phrases in all of Scripture: he calls Saul "brother." There are no recriminations. No demands for apologies or explanations. God has told Ananias that Saul is now His chosen vessel, and Ananias treats him as such.

The lesson we learn from Ananias is that God is not concerned with our past, except in how He has used it to lead us to Him. He is concerned with our future. Because of Ananias' faith in action, Saul/Paul could later write from personal experience, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Take heart! Don't allow the past to become a stumbling block to your future. Know with assurance that "all things are become new"!

Write Your Epitaph

"of whom the world was not worthy" Hebrews 11:38a

As a high school senior, I and my fellow students were charged with writing our epitaphs. It was rather a gruesome thought for a seventeen year old, but the exercise turned my focus outward, on what was truly important to me. To this day, I occasionally find myself questioning what people will remember about me. What will my legacy be? How will I be remembered?

You'll find much today encouraging us to "live big," because success is measured by how much attention it receives. But the most meaningful actions are often the most "meaningless," when it comes to bringing fame or "building important connections."

• One regular donor makes items on behalf of the Mission. She is going to be celebrating her 90th birthday and has been donating for more than 20 years. Things like adult size quilts for our beds are especially needed.
• One gentleman calls and asks what the most needed items are for the kitchen. He just purchases what he can, but he regularly meets immediate needs.
• Some of our donors give every month and include notes of encouragement for staff, to assure us that they are praying for us. They write that they wish they could give more.

You may never know their names, but they are remembered, just as the "unnamed" heroes of Hebrews 11 are remembered. Their actions do not garner success or fame or much attention, but the results are read in the hearts and on the faces of women, children, and men in need.

How do you want to be remembered? In words of stone or letters on a computer screen? Or do you want your legacy to be reflected in the sudden smile of a child who is safe and sheltered; the softly spoken voice of a young woman as she prays with a staff person; the satisfied sigh of an elderly man as he sits down to a warm meal after walking the winter streets; or the tears of rejoicing as a mother gives her burdens to Christ...

What is your epitaph?

"Kids Can Be Kids"

Stopping in the day shelter on a quiet afternoon last Friday, I heard one of our moms reading aloud to her little boy as he crawled around in the child care room. It is a normal enough scene if not the normal "home" setting. However, I was sharply reminded of a recent conversation I'd had with another guest, about how the kids can be kids. She, a single woman, had no children but she spoke in amazement of how "normal" the children acted. I could understand her astonishment and echo her words of relief. While not all of us have had children, we have all been children. Childhood is such a precious time, and the experiences our young guests face, when they come to the shelter with their moms, could be one of deepest tragedy. Praise the Lord, they experience compassion and care. They are protected and they are loved. As is the case in every situation, kids add a measure of chaos, but "kids can be kids" here. And that is truly a wondrous thing. Thank you for your gifts, that enable us to provide food to eat and a safe haven of rest. But thank you most of all for your prayers that strengthen us and enable us to provide hope to those in need.