Worth Sharing

It's been a great time for the past couple days for the family down here in Northfield.  I thought I'd drive home today after preaching in Wisconsin, but decided to come back and spend some more time here.  I'm glad I did.  As I've said so many times, family is such a blessing.  A blessing that we need to share! And one way we do that, I think, is by reaching out through the internet.  Let's see if we can use this medium in a consistently good way.

On the way down here on Friday my daughter Naomi told me fascinating stories about refugees that she's been interviewing in connection with her AmeriCorps job.  (She's editing a book!)  One woman came to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area after finding someone who would help her via facebook.  She's still partially homeless, but she has a lot more hope than she did in her country of origin, where she was beaten and under threats of beheading.  Now, with the help of women at her church and at her homeless shelter, she's raising money to bring her teenage children and her husband to join her in the United States.

Later on Friday evening I met another young woman, also from Africa, who had been sponsored as a "Compassion" child.  When she was young her family had no mattress.  The parents would make a pillow out of clothing and all the children would lie with their heads on the pillow and their bodies on the hard ground.  She remembers the day she was selected to be sponsored by Compassion.  Because of generous sharing from her sponsors she had food, education and health care--blessings that continue today as she is in an advanced program for Spiritual Formation and Discipleship at Moody Theological Seminary.  She praises God every day for the gifts she's been given -- and she'll never forget how far the Lord has brought her and knows the Lord won't leave her now.  Listen to the song she sang for us - Can't Give Up Now.

I am thankful for my family, for the Lord Jesus who puts love in our hearts, and for my country.  If you are also thankful, how will you share those blessings in the days to come?  A young facebook friend of mine just posted this:

Every Christmas you always hear people saying what they want and bought. Well this is what I want, I want people who are sick with no cure to be able to be cured. I want children with no families, to be adopted, I want people to never have to worry about food and shelter and heat. Now, lets see how many people re-post this who actually care. I have a feeling I am gonna see almost no re-posts... prove me wrong!

Some things are worth sharing.  I hope I will keep sharing too.

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