I have been witness these last few weeks to wonderful
examples of love in action. By this, I
mean someone taking an action to care for someone else, not for self-gain, but
to help someone else gain. In a time
when it is much too easy to hear the news of crimes, agonies, collapsed dreams,
wars being waged, and chaos; it is easy to wonder if any act of love by one person
can make a difference today.
With that in mind, I wanted to encourage you the way I have
been encouraged. Last week I had the
exhausting pleasure of helping at my church’s children’s camp (akin to a
VBS). My opportunity to serve was with
the workers’ children who are too young to participate in camp. There were many hands that went into making
this week long camp function, and many chances to witness love in action. Let me give a few examples…
Everyone was hungry for snacks or a
quick meal by the time the evening camp is about half over. Each group of kids and leaders are so happy to
see a cooler coming loaded with goodies and cold water. The preparation of the coolers is love in
action, taking time and work to plan, prepare, distribute everything, and clean
up for the next day. Food was served,
but so was love.
Teenagers serve as big helps during
the week, taking on everything from being gophers, extra hands during craft and
game times, to members of the worship team.
Not only did I witness these individuals jump in to help, but also do so
in such a way that made them examples to point children to, serving with
cheerfulness.
“Jesus loves” is one of the games
played by the children, as they would roll a ball to each other saying, “Jesus
loves…” and then filled in the blank with the name. Of course there was the glee over getting the
ball. But, there was also each little
child trying to decide which friend to send the ball over with the announcement
that Jesus loves them. And, the receiver
of the ball would just beam before starting the process again.
There were many examples, and these comprise just a few, where
small acts of love can be impactful in the lives of others. Children were cared for, adults were
encouraged, and a remarkable amount of love was poured into lives with prayers
that it spills over in many ways and that these children will have a
relationship with Christ – our ultimate source of love.
Keep an eye out – you never know when you might see love in
action.
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