In an earlier post, I discussed the importance of providing affirmations to our children. If you haven’t had an opportunity to check it out, click on the link to enhance the power of your voice to boost your child’s self worth. I know that you will reap the rewards in your relationship with your family.
What does bless mean, exactly? In my mind, the word “bless” is to provide something of value to someone else, i.e. kind words, a gift, a smile, money, etc. It’s an endless list of what and how we can go about blessing others in this world. It doesn’t need a million dollar price tag on it to prove it’s worth and value. All it needs is a loving and willing heart distributing it to someone, which validates its worth on its own.
Recently a friend of mine, reached out for some help to serve the homeless in our community. Without hesitation, I let him know that I was on board to link up with him to help distribute meals to this growing population in our community. I didn’t know what to expect by signing on to help. I knew that I’ve been on the receiving end of so much goodness in my life, that I wanted to bless someone else by serving in the community with no expectation of anything in return.
My wife and I showed up to our friend’s home a little after 9AM on a Sunday morning, which means I woke up way earlier than I care to wake up on a weekend. Normally during this time, I’m watching an online service from the School of the Hebrews. In the last few weeks, I felt the need for something more than just being a consumer of the sermon. I strongly felt the need to produce fruit (so to speak) for others to consume. Immediately, I transformed from consuming to producing from being blessed to blessing others.
All too often, it’s easy to limit our thinking to our 4 walls and nothing else beyond those boundaries. It’s easy to open the garage door, close the garage door, and enter the home after a day’s work ends. I believe that there’s more in life than this simple, unimpactful transaction with life.
Yes, work is important! It’s how we provide for our self and our family.
Yes, rest is important! It helps us to have the necessary energy for life.
However, the act of being a blessing to someone has the potential to do far more than we will ever know for someone else.
While we were serving, we met a man who had fallen on tough times. His father, a minister for 37 years, no longer on this side of eternity. He lives in a tent community at a busy intersection in our city. The man didn’t want anything that we had to offer in terms of the warm meal. His requests were a pair of pants, and continue to keep coming to ’till the soil.’
In our interaction with him, I learned more about and from him in 10 mins than I expected.
Often times in our desire to serve, we approach it with this self-serving mindset. We feel that we are doing things for the right reasons, and there are times when ulterior motives lie underneath the surface, whether we’re aware or unaware of them.
In this interaction, I’m pretty sure that I came pure of heart to be a blessing. Was my desire to produce more about me or more about the community? I believe a little of both existed inside of me. The hesitancy to engage at times was definitely about my comfort and safety. The desire to give and fulfill a need, definitely played a huge part in the day. However, my desire to produce for this man transformed me into a consumer once again.
This homeless man living on the street “ministered” to my friend and I, in such a way, that the posture of my heart changed. It was truly a remarkable moment to experience, to say the least. We never know what others are dealing with in this life. It’s not my place to pass judgement or condemn. It’s my place to learn and understand, if my desire is living out the call of being blessed to bless others. I believe this desire is in all of our lives. The way that each of us fulfills this calling looks different from one person to the next.
A Father Heard 