Some of the things I hope to cultivate in Daniel as he grows up are compassion for people, a heart for ministry and an understanding of the realities of choices in life. My hope is that at some point I can take him on a missions trip so that he is exposed to other cultures and gains a perspective on life that he may not otherwise have. My mom counseled me that before doing anything major (like trekking abroad) I should start doing things in my own community and see how it works to try to involve a four year old in ministry projects. After all four year olds can be a bit unpredictable :-)

Well, life gets hectic and my efforts to provide stimulating, enriching, educational, and fun activities for Daniel take up a lot of time! I had not done much in the way of seeking out service opportunities, but recently I heard through a friend about a ministry that provides lunches to the homeless population downtown. This seemed manageable and the organizer was welcoming to the thought of a child coming along.

So today we (Daniel, my mom, and I) enthusiastically went downtown ready to help. Daniel was briefed on what to expect--though I wasn't exactly certain what to expect--and we found our way to where they gather each Friday.

We were early so none of the "ministry people" had arrived, but a large number of the street people were congregating. I admit, all of a sudden I felt really nervous and did not know what to do with myself. I felt conspicuous and even though street people are not new to me I did find it at first to be A little unnerving to be around people who were so different from myself. Daniel seemed oblivious to everything other than asking once if the people sitting/standing/lying around were the people who had no homes.

Eventually the organizers came, told us what to do, the "director" preached a short message and prayed, and then the lunches were passed out. Daniel passed out most of the lunches in our line and very quickly it was over. As people dispersed one youngish man came to where we were standing with one of the male servers and asked for prayer. He talked about his needs and we joined in prayer for him.

My nervousness and self-consciousness eventually dissipated and I remembered that we are all basically needy. Just a few different choices in my life and that could have been me sitting in that parking lot waiting for a lunch.

On the way home as we were discussing the experience, my mom commented how sad it is to see how Satan tries to degrade humanity which is created in the image of God. We were among people who have a harsh existence because of bad choices or the effects of sin.

I thought of my dad today...how sin and bad choices ruined his life. How he couldn't seem to conquer addictions that were so life controlling, and robbed him of the life God would have wanted him to have.

I hope that today we brightened a little corner of our world. It wasn't much but it was something. I hope that Daniel found joy in giving and as he grows older he will understand how important it is to make good choices in life. I hope that the example of the men who were preaching, serving, and praying made an impression on him.

Any other thoughts/ideas on local opportunities for families to be involved in serving?