Yesterday, I ended my blog talking about Amy, who was a plant in out church service this past Sunday and how one of our ladies befriended her without knowing Amy was a plant. Amy was playing the part pf a homeless young lady in order to see how our people would react to such a guest on Sunday morning. Jennifer, the young lady who befriended Amy went out of her way to show Amy God’s love. She sat with her, explained what was going on during the service, add when Amy was revealed, Jennifer hugged Amy and probably cried with Amy.
One of my goals is to lead Lake Ridge to become a loving church full of loving people. Last Saturday our ladies held a Mother/Daughter Spring Fling and had a great time of fellowship and a crazy fashion show. The invited guests to speak at the event were two ladies from Forbes House, a home in Painesville which is for a shelter for victims of domestic violence. This morning, Thursday, we received a call from a lady who is in need of food for her and her two children. After discussing her situation she shared her story with me that and part of that story is that she was at Forbes House and they helped her get a job and the home she now lives in. My wife is going to take her and get some groceries today. Julie is going to contact the ladies who were at the Spring Fling and get them involved in this lady’s life. I have been praying that God would move us to grow deeper in our love for others and He is being faithful in doing so.
God is cool like that. When you make an effort to follow His teaching, He’ll respond. Sure, we’d all like the response to be an "instant fix," but that’s not how God works. God helps you mature a little at a time. Jennifer had no idea that "Amy" was playing a role. As we talked about it after service on Sunday, Jen said, "During the greeting time, I saw she was very uncomfortable and I thought she was going to leave, so I went down and invited her to sit with me." For Jennifer, that was a HUGE step of courage and faith (probably more than I would have had).
The story behind the story is that God crafted the experience to bless, and continue to train Jennifer in many ways. One was to encourage her in her pursuit of loving others as herself. Jennifer and I have grown to be very different people than what we expected 13 years ago. And I know that over the next 5, 10, 20 years, we’ll continue to grow and change as individuals. Hopefully, as we do Jesus will be increasingly evident in our lives. YOU ARE INVITED to join us in the journey to become more like Jesus Christ.
Jennifer’s Husband – Patrick