Every generation is pinned with certain titles, needs, hopes. Some are detrimental and some are positive. The half empty differentiating with the half full thought process. Well, I think that multiple generations can be called the same thing. I feel that this is because the “title” or “need” is something intrinsically linked throughout the dna of what God has called humanity. With many on a continual link throughout life, I believe that one of the strongest ones that if failed can destroy our very way of life, is Family. Capital letter equals importance. Family is of high importance. A building block in humanity, that if lost, will cause decay throughout life, that in time will eat away into the very fabrics of who we are.
On Monday the 14th, Stand up for hope had it’s first Christmas party and it was one that showed the positive side of family and how it intertwined itself with the life around us. We were expecting about 36 children/men, and an hour before there were already kids waiting to come for their special evening. They looked like they could have come even earlier if they could have. The expectancy was tangible. Inside the kitchen, things were abuzz, from the cooking of the vegetables to the slicing of the 14 cooked chickens. I tried to get into the kitchen to help, but I was overwhelmed with the amount of people already inside! This evening was one full of amazement from all the donations of so many people. Financial to clothing to musical lights to tablecloths to hands on help. These kids were aware that it was not me who had made this happen, but people like yourself who had taken time to embrace what was happening around you, with children who are so used to having to beg for what they eat.
I had to laugh with an older kid, called Trust, who has one of those “bottomless stomachs” that can eat and eat and eat again, when he put his hand on his stomach and told me he was full! That past week he had been giving me a hard time about wondering what he was having for supper, if it was meat and that he was going to eat so much on Monday. I have to admit, part of his attitude grated me and I had told him that if he did not want to come then he did not have to. I was not being horrible, although for a moment I had to check myself. I was just calling his bluff and also letting him know that everyone should not take things for granted. On and off the street. Ourselves and them. And then I saw him on Monday, almost having 3rds and 2 helpings of ice-cream and sauce! And yes, he was full
There are many more stories from that evening that I will share in time, but Trust’s story was something that made me aware that if we had not been a part of their party, of Trust’s evening, then he would have really left hungry. Only with the involvement of us a family, could this have happened. And in this action, the “half empty” and the “half full” became one. Realising that whatever side of the tracks we came from, we are all one family. Rich, poor; full, hungry; friend, enemy; loved, unloved…..all became one that night. A beautiful cacophony of colour and sound formed up in the heavenlies that night, like the Northern Lights….creating what could only be called an unknown colour that only be described as Love.
That night, God and the angels stared with delight at what was happening below at the party of friends, and out of the corner of their eyes saw a new star appear. Shining in excitement with the colour of love. That night, I like to think that all of us helped in creating a new star that now shines in the constellation called Family.
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Emphasis mine.)
Luke 6:37-38
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