5.14 - Message From "The Link"

Pretty simple question this week.

How Do You Serve?

I’m curious to hear how you serve, get involved, do with your extra time, or whatever you want to call it. I know you all are active and probably serving in ways you don’t even realize or get credit for doing.

I want to celebrate it with you. I have developed a blog post that will allow you to post a comment. You can visit www.nlfw.org or click here to get directly to the post.

I hope you’ll post. I really want to know. I want to tell all my friends in other organizations that the community is alive and doing everything we can to support it.

As I’ve informed you before, I’m leading a committee/task force of other agencies and as we discuss the biggest issues of our community from what we see on a daily basis. The groups have tough issues on their plates. Not only issues they address as organizations but the new challenge of aligning services with folks and getting more people on board to offset those issues.

A large part in the plans that are developing is engaging the community at large with opportunities to get involved. We live in a very generous and well resourced community, but a lacking part is communicating ways to connect.

Although we’re a generous and well resourced community, our community at large is hurting. More and more needs are being exposed. Every organization is seeing an influx in requests and a different type of person doing the request. Traditional middle class individuals are now seeking assistance and are having a tough time as well.

Agencies are overwhelmed, our project list is adding up, and now is a great time to serve in the name of Christ and to spread a little HOPE. The kind of hope that tells those who are served that they’re not alone.

I had the opportunity to experience a sense of that HOPE today. I’ve been reading to a third grade class on the NW side as part of United Way’s Real Men Read program that is attempting to close the third grade reading gap. You can find out more about the program by going to LearnUnited.org.

The school that I read at isn’t that un-resourced but knowing that I’m giving up my time for the greater good and as I understand and embrace the mission of the initiative, I’m overwhelmed by God’s grace and His sense of HOPE for our community.

You see….This serving thing is a two way street. It’s not just for the recipient, it’s for your own heart.

My heart needs that Hope too.

Give it a shot friends. Do something for someone else this week.


Andrew
Your “Courageous" Director
andrew@nlfw.org
260.710.7611