The Best Is Yet To Come

The thrift store has undergone several improvements this past year. Having a new roof installed this past week being one of those improvements. We run an amazing ministry out of an older building, which has needed this maintenance work.

However, this has not been inexpensive. Everything has a cost, and church buildings and  maintenance are no exception. Choosing to put money into our store and building is an investment into what can be accomplished here. It is an investment into the future. When we choose to put resources into something, we are investing in what is to come, not what we may be seeing at the time. This sounds alot like faith. Believing in what we can not see. In ministry, that is what is done a lot. Believing in what we can not see, and investing in the future.

 The weekend food program is a ministry of our church that sends food home with children who are experiencing food insecurity. When we give to children are we not also investing in the future? We don't know the children by name, but the child who can do their homework over the weekend with a full stomach is more likely to succeed in school, and become our next youth pastor, school nurse, or business owner.  When we spend money on new play equipment for our preschool, we are investing in the future too. The young child playing today may become a church architect when they grow up.

 Investing now for the future is having hope for tomorrow. It is having confidence in God's greater plan. An investment in God's plan is always an investment with amazing returns. Always. Yes, the thrift store has a new roof. Yes, we do an amazing ministry here. But what more does God have planned? I am excited to see what God has planned for us in the future.  

Clocks

Do you enjoy watching the "behind the scenes" takes from movies or TV shows? Do you wonder what really happens behind the restaurant kitchen doors? Being a person who is curious, I enjoy watching the footage about how PBS documentaries are made, and watching these "behind the scenes" shows. I just like seeing how things work. How a perfect result comes together, despite all the bloopers and outtakes. 

I have just come back from attending a church staff meeting, and through this, I was able to take a "sneak peak" behind the scenes. A group of truly talented individuals, each in their own area of expertise and experience, come together to plan and discuss a few of the upcoming events of the church. It was like taking the back off an old clock, and seeing how each of the gears move independently and together, all at the same time. No one individual could run a ministry without the support from the group. No one activity could be planned without it affecting another. Space, location, time slots, volunteers, and equipment all need to be allotted and planned for any one activity to be successful. Just like in a clock, all the gears work together, simultaneously, to produce a positive result. Observing this "behind the scenes"  meeting was awesome and humbling. And like in a clock, where all the gears work together for one focus, which is to communicate the time, all the staff members at this meeting were all working together to communicate the Gospel. The story of forgiveness and love. Each person gave insight, ideas, and support to the other person. Each gear in a clock turns and works because of the gear next to it.  No one ministry is independent of another. I am proud and humbled to serve with such an awesome staff team. Together, we work to spread the story of Jesus.    

Making A Difference

At the Good Neighbor Thrift Store and We Care office we stay busy. Very, very busy. From dating cans of green beans, to shining glassware, to hanging up shirts, to testing blenders, we do it all. Every day. And with a super big smile. Somehow, hard work never seemed like so much fun. Meeting new people, finding treasures, discovering new talents, and eating stale pastries are all in a day's work here. 

But where does this urge to get up in the morning and come to do this come from? Why spend valuable time, risking life and limb, to drive on hwy 98 to go somewhere and work and not get paid? 

I remember watching a video series with my son, not so long ago, haha, when he was young, called  "The Donut Man ''. The underlying message of this program is that each of us is made by God, and we are kinda like a donut. Each of us has a God given hole that needs to be filled. The catch is that only one thing can fill it. We can try to fill it with sports, work, tv. and lots of fun stuff, but that just won't do it. God made the hole, and only letting God back in can fill it. When we let God in and choose to work for Him, things change. I mean really change. That is when working for him is no longer work. It is service. And it is fun. That is what we do here. We work together and serve Him. And that makes us complete. With out a hole. 

It's Kinda Like Christmas

You just never know what is going to be inside that box.....

When items come to the thrift store to be donated, they come in a myriad of containers. Some donations come in trash bags, some in diaper boxes, some in plastic bins with lids, others items stuffed into old luggage. The great team at the donation door receives all these donations, and then takes them to the areas of the store to then be sorted, cleaned and priced. But the packaging is frequently deceiving. Neatly folded clothing in a spotless bin can be covered in stains and really stink. A trash bag full of linens can contain sheets still packaged from the store. A beat up box can hold crystal bowls. You just never know what is coming through the donation door, and judgement can not be made based on the container that it comes in.

 Aren't people like that too? The customer that doesn't look like they have 2 nickels to rub together gives a $5 donation to the store. A  neatly dressed lady asks for food for her children, as she has just used her last paycheck to pay the utility bill. We just never know where someone has come from, and what challenge they are up against. We are not asked to judge or jump to assumptions based on what we see on the outside. As the saying goes, we should not judge a book by its cover. We are just asked to love thy neighbor as ourselves. Sometimes that means not saying what we are thinking, or simply  giving the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes it means saying something when we are shy or just want to walk away. We are not called to offer judgement, but to offer kindness. You will never regret being kind. 

Now, go ahead, offer the smile you would like to recieve, let that driver in on 98, no matter what kind of care they are driving. Remember it is not the outer packaging, it is the contents that really matter. 

Tales from the Thrift

The thrift store and We Care ministry serves a diverse population. We are in the business of helping people. And we do it alot, every day. Sometimes the volunteers here do not see who we are helping. What is seen is Candace quietly giving food to someone outside the door, or just hearing me yelling and seeing me run around asking for a particular size of shorts or shoes for someone at the door. 

One day a young man came to our mission, asking for help. He shared that he is currently going through a difficult time, and wanted to get back home to his family in Washington. That would be the state, not DC, just about as far away from Florida as one can get. He had been employed, lost his job, and was currently making do living out of a tent not too far away. We gave him some food, and asked him to return the next day, so we could look into how we could help. He returned, and we set out to help the best we could. The cost of getting him home was surprisingly quite reasonable, and for us, very doable.  We purchased him a bus ticket to Washington, and an Uber ride to the bus station. He was very appreciative, and we wished him well. Candace and I thought that was the end of the story. This was one of many bus tickets we have bought to help others in tough spots get to where they need to be.  A couple weeks later, when the phone rang in the office at We Care, a young man was on the other end. He identified himself as being the same young man that we had helped earlier, and stated that he was calling from Washington state. To say thank you. He did not need to do this, but wanted to express his appreciation for our help. Amazing. What came to mind was the Bible story from the book of Luke, in which the man with leprosy was healed, and returned to say thank you. Here at We Care, do not expect a thank you.  We do what we do because it is what is asked of us. And yet, this young man went out of his way to call us and express his gratitude. We never know who will need help, or when we will need help. What we do know is that faith and gratitude will carry us through both the good and tough times.