Already Loved Follow Up

I sent this out by e-mail to our church family, but I thought it made a great blog post, too. So here it is.

I received this e-mail yesterday and asked permission to share it with you. I was given that permission on the basis that I preserve the anonymity of the sender. I have done my best to do this because I believe this summarizes what Already Loved is about. Thank you to all of you who made this such a wonderful event. If you have other stories, please send them to me.

"We had 3 deliveries last night and three good visits. Actually two of the visits were great. I am a bit confused though -- this program is supposed to be an outreach program for our community. It seems to be working, but there is a greater impact that is taking place with our own church body. Wow! A real win/win opportunity.

Our first visit was to a mom with two small kids who were sick and running fever. She was very appreciative of the gift and plans to attend when she is able.

The second visit was to an older black gentlemen named Mr. Nelson Goodloe. Mr. Goodloe invited me in and apologized for his work clothes as he had just finished mowing his lawn. The point of inviting me inside was so that I could meet his wife. His wife was in a hospital bed in the living room, partially clothed and obviously suffering from dementia or cancer or both. She was asleep and unable to communicate. Mr. Goodloe is the primary caregiver which must take incredible effort on his part as he is an older gentlemen. He said that he has a couple of ladies who sit with his wife a few days a week but I could tell it was a job that consumed him 24 hours a day.

I explained why I was visiting and he immediately remembered the phone calls and conversations. He immediately mentioned that he was very interested in our men's disciple group and that he would love to be a part of such a group. I was completely humbled by his statement. Mr. Goodloe also told me how much it meant to him that people were praying. In my opinion, Mr. Goodloe will probably never get the opportunity to be away from his wife long enough to attend. I will never take for granted the opportunity that we have to meet on Sunday afternoons at 5:00 and the camaraderie and study time that we share is so easy to take for granted.

Before I left we had prayer. Mr. Goodloe stated that they were making it just fine. This would be a great mission opportunity if I just knew how we could help. I think we already helped by just communicating and praying. I know that it helped me to look beyond my own woes and see a picture of strength and gratitude in a frail older gentlemen.

Lastly, we visited a couple who lives in a neighborhood where time has passed and the neighborhood changed. They are on an island. Living in a house surrounded by cars with loud radio's and people walking in the streets whose intentions are probably not good. Mr. Kindread has worked at Lynn Layton as a mechanic for 44 years. He has plans to retire next year. The Kindreads have antique tractors which are a strange sight in this neighborhood in the middle of town.

We shared that we are a "country church" in the middle of town and that they should visit. I believe these folks will visit and they will feel comfortable in our church.

Three very good visits. Thank you for leading me to get outside of my comfort zone and practice some of the principles that are so clearly defined in God's word."

Just so you will know, we had 38 people to attend our Already Loved Sunday. Many of them have expressed interest in continuing to come to Southside. Through our Follow-Up, we are identifying others who were unable to attend but who are still interested in coming. Only eternity will reveal the total impact of what has taken place here, but in the present, I can see the impact it has had on our church family. 40 different families have taken part in delivering the follow-up gift bags. Over 150 people were involved in the actual campaign. Thank you for all of your hard work. Thank you for following my leadership in this. Thank you for taking on leadership positions. Thank you for being the body of Christ. I am proud to be your pastor.