Our Best Foot Forward

Recently, the ladies of Ignite (our college and young professionals ministry) held a spa night at the church. They invited the women from a local homeless shelter to come and be pampered at our makeshift spa. Now I must confess that, as a man, I don't understand the desire that most women have to let total strangers care for their feet. For her birthday, my wife wanted a gift certificate for a pedicure at a local nail salon. When paying the bill, I looked to the back and saw a man sitting in a special chair with his pant legs rolled up, getting a pedicure - hairy legs and all. It was disgusting. I can understand if a man has medical issues (diabetes, etc.) and needs a pedicure for health reasons. Otherwise, that's just nasty. Now what was I saying? Oh yeah, caring for other people's feet. Our church has never held a foot washing service, but if we did, I imagine most members would quickly pour the water, apply the towel and feel good for having emulated Jesus. But what these young ladies did the other night took foot washing to another level. They humbled themselves, understanding, but for the grace of God, any of us could be homeless. The women of the shelter were treated like royalty. Most of us would never touch another person's feet, but our Ignite ladies washed, moisturized and painted the nails of stranger's feet. They served in other ways as well, but this one example reminded me of Jesus more than any other. I am so proud of Ignite. They really are on fire for God and it shows. Our focus should be outward and our service should impact those who don't know Jesus. Last Sunday, a lady visiting our church for the first time approached me and said, "Pastor, I am one of those ladies from the shelter who attended the spa the other night." She was served on Friday and came back on Sunday - all because a group of college students picked up the towel and basin and decided to care for others in Jesus name. Way to go Ignite.

CAP

What's Cool About God

This week our family had the opportunity to return to a place that holds a lot of powerful memories for me - The Children's House at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Our son was born nearly three months premature and we lived at The Children's House for one month while Joshua was growing strong enough to be moved to Fredericksburg. Joshua is five now and we wanted to give back to a place that was such a blessing to us, so on Thursday (the day before Joshua's birthday), we served dinner for all the current residents. While there, we met a woman who lives in Gettysburg, PA. We told her that we had accepted an invitation to speak at a marriage conference in Gettysburg this November and the conference was being held at the Eisenhower Inn. She said that she lived so close to the Eisenhower Inn that if we stood on the back balcony, we could see her backyard. Amazing. We went to The Children's House to serve, and met someone who lives right beside the very place that we will be speaking at in just a few months. What are the chances? Maybe a better question is, "What are the chances that it's not God?" We don't always know why God allows trials in our lives, and why He causes our paths to collide with total strangers - but often those strangers need something from us, or we need something from them. In this instance, we were able to minister to this woman and her daughter (who had cancer). God used my family to serve a hot meal and encourage those residents, while demonstrating the power of His providence. When Crystal and I go to Gettysburg in November, we hope to meet up with this dear lady and daughter again. Who knows where this journey will end - but then again, that's what's so cool about God. He doesn't need us to know all the answers. He just wants us to take the journey and trust Him for the outcome.

CAP