Glorifying the Father

My favorite blog is Woodshavings, written by my friend and pastor Jimmy Chalmers. Jimmy has been down in New Orleans helping families rebuild their homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Jimmy posts daily updates on his blog, keeping the rest of us informed on the progress and telling us stories about the human beings behind the statistics. Recently Jimmy has had the priviledge of working with groups of teenagers who forego their spring breaks and senior trips to do something far more important - helping others. In spite of all the doom and gloom we hear on the news today, there's good things happening, and they are being done by the generation who are inheriting the mess my generation is leaving them. There is hope for America when our young people can grasp what our politicians cannot - that serving others, not having authority over others, is what makes America great. The work being done in NOLA today is being done by volunteers, not by the government. Most of those volunteers are there because they want to serve God. Long after the people of NOLA have given up hope in our government, they can still hope in the Father, who continues to send help their way in the form of pastors and tradesmen and teenagers.

Then the Father blesses those who serve by using the people of NOLA to serve them. Mrs. Phillips and Mrs Holloway and so many grateful recipients of God's army of volunteers turn around and cook for those who came to help. They give God thanks for His provision, they tell their stories so that the rest of us can know the faces behind the statistics.

Together, they all paint a picture of the love of God for His children. He doesn't mind sharing the spotlight with us, but what a wonderful way of inspiring hope where there is none, a sense of accomplishment where there's doubt in our purpose, and love when we think we're in this world all alone.

I'm certain that Jimmy is going to return to his family and friends a changed man. He's been a vital part of what God is doing in people's lives. It's for this time and this place that Jimmy was created; and he is giving his life so that the Father is proven real and relevant and involved in our circumstances. This is the type of cooperation I believe God intended between us and Him; so that whatever is done in Heaven is done here on Earth.