6.6.09

The Otter Creek furniture ministry continues to be one of the key components of our ability to step into people’s lives in a way that opens the door for the opportunity to build relationships. After all, if someone is sleeping on the floor or has no sofa to sit on and we show up with our trailer to deliver this to them, we tend to have the chance to plop down on the sofa after we put it in place and initiate a chat with the people. In most instances our showing up with furniture is not the first time we’ve met. I try to make it a requirement that I visit the person making the request in their home prior to showing up with furniture. Many times this initial visit shows the need for much more than just a bed or a sofa.

But with every delivery of furniture to a needy person there has been a donation from someone and a pick up at their house of the furniture. Sure, it may seem like the evangelistic thing to do to show up at some person’s apartment with a piece of furniture, but this blog entry is intended to highlight the Otter Creeker’s and their friends who decide to offer their excess or cast-offs to our furniture ministry. In addition to thanking all those people, I have a special place in my heart for the men, women and their children who make the sacrifice to come along with me to pick up the donations. There’s not much evangelistic reward for this activity. You do get to meet some interesting people, and you certainly get to know that what you are picking up will eventually be a blessing to a person in need. But on the late evenings when you miss dinner in order to make that last pick up and then have to deliver it to our store house, one has to really keep the big picture in mind.

That’s what took place this afternoon. A relatively new member from Otter Creek and his 15 yr. old son helped pick up donations from 4 different locations. They had been at the ball field all morning and were hot and tired when they showed up. But they jumped right in with me to head out in the Otter Creek van with the Otter Creek trailer in tow. The chance to spend a couple of hours talking about Otter’s outreach ministry and the vision for being a family in a way that most people (and many of us) never experienced is time that I really appreciate. I’ve yet to not see someone’s eyes light up and their imagination start to churn as we talk about the different lives that have already been touched. It’s almost become a tradition that I spend 4 or 5 hours each Saturday picking up furniture. It’s one of those “seed-planting” investments of time (i.e. without planting the seeds and doing all the prep work, there’s little chance of a harvest). If you want to spend a Saturday with me, drop me an email and get ready for a workout and for a blessing!!