"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."John 13:34-35
In the spirit of celebrating what God is doing through means of encouragement, you are invited to share your stories of how the Kingdom of God is breaking forth on your street corner through encouragement.
Also, as fellow workers in the harvest, feel free to share words of encouragement for those who read this...words that would spur each other on in this journey as the church.
3 comments:
I had been praying for my neighbors since I moved in and I always notices that the mother and kids were always so eager to talk to me. However, the dad has this major wall up. I began to really pray for him, asking God for a means to form a relationship with him specifically. He is a great dad and I have noticed how he treats his wife and kids...he cares for them...but was so closed off at the same time. God opened up an opportunity for me one night to tell him what I have noticed about him.
I told him, " You father your kids well...it is really clear that you love them and care for them. And they really respect and love you too. I just wanted you to know that I see it."
He looked at me and said, " No one has ever told me that. Thank you."
With that small comment, the walls came down and he began to share with me about how difficult his life has been and how he still struggles some time.
When I told him that my fiance and I want to have him over for dinner, his response was, "great, I'll bring the hot dogs."
We are having dinner with them tonight and I can't wait.
This is just a testimony of how a small word of encouragement can open doors to significant things. Pray for open doors in talking with my neighbor more.
I am currently living in Guatemala City at a domestic abuse shelter for women. I can't begin to explain all of the ways that I see God at work here as I build relationships with these women and learn about their culture, but one blessing for me has been praying with them at meals in Spanish--a challenge for me but something that really brings us together. Other things as simple as sharing my cough drops or practicing our English and Spanish skills together bring a smile to their faces, which has reminded me that it's really the simple things in life that matter...the relationships we build on whatever street corners we find ourselves. If you'd like to read more about my missions trip experiences in Guatemala, my blog site is: http://Nikole87.wordpress.com.
Every Thursday night, we do neighborhood prayer at our house. We have asked God to fill our living room with people. There are 5 of us. Every week, just 5. For over 15 months, we have had up to 6, but always at least 5. We all came to the conclusion that for now, 5 is enough. We don't need to grow bigger, because God is bringing us deep.
One of the 5 just lost his job. Shocking, as he is large and in charge and so very good at his work and loved his work. It was a shock. To him. To the 5 of us. He deals with some health issues. He deals with parent issues. And now he deals with identity issues, hope issues, grief, pain, fear, loss of control to name just a few.
But there are 5 of us, including this friend. What a joy to walk side by side with this dear neighbor, this friend, this prayer warrior in our midst. We lock arms on Thursday nights. We lock arms through the phone during our days lifting this neighbor, this friend in prayer. To walk alongside him is a privilege. To council, pray, encourage.
5 of us pray. We are going deep. Just think if we didn't have each other here each week. We can't go there, we need to walk this together. To think this all began with a prayer walk.
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