...that's what I said last night to a group of students who joined me at a local homeless shelter. My A.B.S. group has decided to devote the entire month of December to various "serve" projects in our community. The way we see it...there's no better way to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ child than to spend the entire month sharing His love with the needy on a weekly basis.
Last night was the first outing. A group of 18 of us went to a shelter in Greensburg for a night of serving. When we arrived, we were divided into two groups. Half of us were designated to be a "clean-up crew" and the other half was a "craft crew". The "craft crew" spent the night with the families at the shelter playing with children, and the "clean-up crew" scrubbed the place.
It was a huge success! There were smiles all around as our group of 18 stepped out of their comfort zones to be a blessing to the staff and resident's of the shelter.
Some of my favorite moments include:
-Hearing the children giggle at Alex Kessler's impersonations of cartoon characters
-Hearing one of my students sing the song "How He Loves" as he scrubbed a toilet...I just couldn't fight the tears in that moment
-Watching Christian Jonczak smile as he spent almost 35 minutes scrubbing a single deep carpet stain
-Hearing Corey Silvis say, "PM, I've never had fun cleaning before." The look on his face was priceless.
-Seeing Amber, Lorris, Cate, and Jess become like little girls as they crafted and played with the children
-Teaching Tyler Riggle how to run a carpet cleaner...and then watching him use it...he did a GREAT job!
To the group who went last night, WAY TO GO!!! You truly exemplified Christianos to everyone at that shelter. I'm so grateful to have been a part of our efforts last night. I knew you guys were gonna do a great job, but I had no clue how blown away I was going to be after seeing you give of yourself for the sake of the Kingdom.
Grace and Peace be with you.
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