My Melted Heart

She’s absolutely adorable.  Sandy blond hair, top front teeth missing, and a smile that will melt you to your core.  She has an incredible imagination and is quite talented with crayon’s  and a blank sheet of paper.  She’s simply sweet  as can be.

I’m referring to my new little friend at the homeless shelter who I got to see again on Saturday.  Last month we went on an imaginary plane ride to Africa, this month we created art together.  She traced a toy horse onto a piece of paper, then began coloring it.  I came along side her and added a flowing main, nostril, eyes, clouds, which she quickly said were rain clouds, so I darkened them up and she added the rain drops.  By the end of our time together, we had created a beautiful piece of art for her mom that we were pretty proud of it.

She grabbed me around my neck and squeezed tightly and then said “I love you.”  Calling her by her first name, I said, “I love you too!”

That comment has been with me for a couple of days now.  I really do love her.  She is a wonderful child of God and created in His image.  When we created art together I had a glimpse of God coming along side me and helping as I attempt to create in my daily experiences called life.  When she grabbed me around the neck, and squeezed, it was as if God himself was giving me a hug and it just melted my heart.

How do you communicate to others how important it is to spend this kind of time, with kids you don’t know, and especially kids at a homeless shelter.  I’m troubled by the thought that so many of the little girls on Saturday were competing for the attention of myself and my other two friends who were there playing with them.  Our wives were there participating as well, but I didn’t have a huge sense of the girls wanting to hang out with them.  It was clear they didn’t have a need for their attention.  They were looking for a dad.

It’s not too difficult to see there’s an absence of a male figure in the lives of these children.  Even though it wasn’t as evident in the boys who were there, I’m sure it applies to them as well.  In just a few short months we’ve met some very talented and wonderful children who are temporarily displaced from a place they can call home.  And we’ve met some wonderful parents as well, who obviously care deeply for their children. 

When we started the Jubilee Kids Club, I was convinced we we’re there for the children and we had something to teach them.  I’m now more convinced than ever that these kids have more to teach us then we can ever teach them.  I’m confident we are there for only one reason and that is to love.  Through our love we hope to teach, nourish, build confidence and self esteem, but we hope that these wonderfully talented kids will in some way find hope and assurance that there is a God who also cares deeply for them and is holding them in the palm of his hand.  And I hope I learn to love more deeply and I hope in some way we are able to communicate to the rest of the world how great the need is for love.

God help me learn to love more deeply.  Help me to care for others more than I care for myself.  Show me the way to communicate to others the need out there in the world for love, care, and concern for the children.  I pray you’ll help our friends at the homeless shelter.  Care for them and help them get back on their feet, but most importantly, help them to feel loved.

Dear Dad…

Fathers day is quickly approaching and if you’re like me I’m sure you’ve asked yourself the question, “what do I get dear old dad for Fathers day?” 

Golf balls, a new book, nice tie, a fancy dinner, watch, hat, power tools, or some other forgettable item?

Lately gifts have become more personal for me.  I guess I’m just tired of not remembering a year from now what I got last Fathers day or what gift I gave to my dad.  I’m ready to invest a little effort and give a gift that will mean more to the person receiving it.

This year my wife and I discussed what we could do and came up with an idea we’d like to share with everyone out there in the blog world, hoping that you too might consider a new alternative for gift giving this Fathers Day.

Let me introduce you to The Belmont Foundation.  Their mission is “to effectively respond to the crisis of fatherlessness by equipping the faith community to provide life long, trust based mentoring relationships with young men in an effort to affect long-term change.”

What better way could there be to show your dad that you love them, than by making a financial donation to an organization that cares enough about young men to invest into their lives, so that change can take place.  If you had a great dad growing up, then honor him this father’s day by making a donation to the Belmont Foundation.  If the experience you had with your dad as a child was not as memorable as you’d like for it to be, then make a decision today to break that cycle by making a donation that says “I want to give another child out there an opportunity to have a role model in their life who can make a positive impact on their future.”

My wife and I believe that trust based mentoring relationships can create long-term change and we believe that today’s generation is filled with fatherless, hurting, children, who need someone to come along side them and let them know they are loved.  Chose today to help a child who doesn’t have a father.  Make a donation to the Belmont Foundation.  That’s what we’re going to do!

Happy Fathers Day!

Mentoring

Today I’ll visit one of our schools and deliver the last 11 pair of shoes for this school year.  We’ll top out at 211 pair, or as I like to say, lives helped.  Our goal was 250 pair of shoes, so we’ll miss our mark by 39 pair, but I still feel a huge sense of accomplishment and like we’ve really worked hard this year.

Retread is starting to grow and I feel like it’s an organization that’s really beginning to take shape.  In recent days I’ve been very encouraged by our Jubilee Kids Club and how we’ve started making an impact there.  I know we are because of the smiles.  I think a lot of times organizations feel they have to measure their growth or success in some way and if we measure the Jubilee Kids Club success by the number of smiles we see, then we’re really successful.

One of the other key parts of Retread is mentoring.  We feel we are accomplishing our goals through the giving of shoes, but we want to be more than just a charity.  We want to help reshape lives in positive ways and we want to build relationships with people who will team with us in reshaping lives all around the world.  Today I hope to talk with one of our counselors about a lunch time mentoring program at their school.  She and I have been dreaming for over a year about how we can mentor the kids at their school in this way, and her idea is very basic and simple and not a new concept by any means.  There are tons of organizations out there already mentoring kids through lunch time mentoring programs.  Even though there are other organizations already doing this, I don’t think it should keep Retread from also doing it.  There’s a huge need out there for kids lives to be shaped in a positive way.

I think we all have the God given gift of service and it might look different for all of us.  I also think we all have the ability to mentor someone.  My path just happens to be headed in the direction of children, yours might be homeless people, alcoholics, drug addicts, single mothers, or those with special needs.  Maybe you’re interested and would like to help mentor a young non-profit like Retread, we’d certainly appreciate your help and advice.  Who or what ever it is, we all can reshape a life in a positive way.  We just need to be willing to love, care, and give of ourselves in very simple and basic ways.

Today I’d love to hear about what you are doing to help reshape lives through mentoring.  Leave me a comment and let me know what you are up to.  I’d love to be encouraged by your acts of kindness and love today.