Just Because We Love...

First, let me apologize for just disappearing from the blog world again.  Teaching Revelation in Community Bible Study has been consuming, add that to life and keeping up with my blog has been impossible.  But I couldn't let today slide by and not tell you what happened...

I mentioned a while back that I had met a principle from a middle school in a very low income area, not too far from my home.  Since I don't believe in coincidences, I started watching for how God might lead me to work with her, or at her school in the future.  At first, I wasn't very open to the idea...  This is hard for me to confess, but I had this really messed up notion that just because the school was in a low income area, it might not be safe.

But God did a number on my heart about that when I went to the garbage dump in Africa.  I felt so judgmental about the pastors who wouldn't go to the dump because they felt it wasn't safe, but then I was quickly convicted of my own shallow attitude and I resolved to contact the principle when I returned home.

So now I've been there a few times and in the last couple of weeks, I've started reading with a couple of the students.  It's funny, what I do seems so small and yet they treat me like I've donated a million dollars...  They are so humble and so appreciative of EVERYTHING!!

I LOVE the people I've met at this school.  I have no idea what their beliefs are, but they LOVE these children...  It is so obvious...  And to see how they talk about the ones that have some behavioral challenges (in such a grace-filled way), they clearly love them unconditionally.  It is just such a blessing to be around these men and women!!

Well, I guess because some of the staff are starting to recognize me and realize that I'm around to stay for a while, today they started asking questions, not in a rude way, just curious...  Where are you from?  Why are you here?  Which group are you with?  When I tried to explain that I wasn't with a group, they looked at me like I didn't understand what they were asking and they started suggesting groups I might be with.

After the second or third time this happened, I realized that they aren't used to seeing people who don't have a 'reason' to be there.  They're not a project I'm working on,  I'm not getting any community service hours, I'm not with a local university and my boss hasn't sent me...  I'm just there because I followed my heart...  God's leading.

Now, I'm not being critical at all of people who go for the other reasons, I've always been in that group before. But it just made me very sad that people expect service to come with an ulterior motive...  It made me sad that we don't do just because we love.

I feel like ulterior motives have defined far too much of my life...  It's so refreshing for a change to just do something because I love Jesus and He asked me to.  God really does bless us when we do the things He asks...  Not with stuff, but with things like the smile of a child...  It just doesn't get much better than that!