Uh...if you think going into the community and reaching out to people in need, is easy for me...think again! If it is not difficult to you, I commend you. Alas, I do not fall into that category. Yes...I love people. But loving people and having the courage to turn your love into action can be two different things.
I'm really good at some things. I think I'm best at finding reasons why I can't do something. That's why I told you that I would reach out to people - so that I would have to. I mean, if I tell somebody that I'm going to do something...I will do it.
Here is a list of words that came to my mind - from the time I said I would go out into the community, until I did:
Gargantuan, Herculean, ambitious, arduous, burdensome (Hey, I work 40 hours a week), challenging, crucial, demanding, easier said than done, exacting, formidable, laborious, no picnic, not easy, problematic, emotionally strenuous, of titanic proportion, very trying. Oh, and did I mention how much I dreaded it?
But I did it! At least... I started the process, which is... a start! It wasn't too painful. Remember when I said the first thing to do was to count the places within about a 10 mile radius of where you live? I counted them and wrote them down. It was relatively painless since I used my computer! Good ole Google search engine. Figured I could start there and add more as I see them. So what did I find?
1) One Hospital
2) Three Convalescent Homes
3) Two Tutoring Centers
4) Six Bars
5) Three Elementary Schools
6) One High School
7) One Crisis Pregnancy Center
(No Abortion Clinics within ten miles...but check that out where you live).
Oh, BTW, if you do this...remember to write down the address and phone number. If you're doing it on the computer, just copy and paste...and save the information in a file.
But don't just "file it away". Remember the rest of the acronym?
WAR ... Walk, Ask, Respond.
Tomorrow I will throw some thoughts your way, Re: Walking, Asking and Responding.
But for right now...just count and take note of the addresses and phone numbers.
I would love it if you would join me on my journey by either praying for me - or starting your own journey and sharing it with me and others. I challenge you! Just start out by taking a ...
Step Into Action...
2 comments:
I added you to my prayer list. I'm eager to see where your list takes you and in what forms. I love how organized you are being with this. Sometimes we get so gung ho we just race out and try to start something. Thinking it through first will actually make your "sheltering" more effective.
I commend you for this. I'm a lot like you in the fact that it's sometimes harder to reach out for me. I often feel my calling is street preaching in some form because I am great at public speaking and I get really passionate about the Lost, but actually going out and doing it scares me.
Good luck. I will ray for you and hopefully start my own journey soon.
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