Oh so blessed

Diana and I recently had the opportunity to spend a day with homeless teens and young adults here in downtown Denver. On numerous occasions, we've spent time handing out sack lunches or donuts and coffee to the homeless population in Denver, but never had we seen or experienced what we did on this occasion.

We arrived at 9:00AM and set up a buffet lunch of Taco's for what we expected would be 100 homeless street kids. We opened the doors at 10:00 for any homeless kids or young adults to come in, have a hot meal, maybe take a nap, or spend some time talking with someone. We spent the day with a hundred kids, living on the streets, not knowing where their next meal would come from or where they would sleep that night. We met two pregnant girls who were not sure how they would ever care for a newborn baby or if they would even make it to child birth. A young couple came in with two small children, 4 and 6 years of age, and obviously very hungry, broke my heart.

I won't go into all that we saw, heard, learned and experienced that day but I will say that God used that day to awaken me. You may have heard the illustration, 2x4 moment, where sometimes God needs to hit you over the head with a 2x4 to get your attention. This day was a 2x4 day for me.

God used that day to awaken me to how blessed I am, compared to the rest of the world population, me and most of you reading this are wealthy. We hear the term “God bless America” often, yet he already has and continues to. He has given most of us living in this country so so much. We are truly blessed.

A lifetime of wealth can often cause us to be blind at times. I take so much for granted, my loving family and friends, food on the table, job, home, etc. etc. How I need to be more thankful. I need to not just sit on the sidelines thankful for what I have been blessed with but to also use what God has given me to be a blessing to others less fortunate than I. I need to get off my butt and be a blessing to others, period!

God tells us in the scriptures to 'love our neighbor’ (Mark 12:31) and ‘When you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you refused to help me’ (Matt 25:45). I know these truths, so why don’t I do them.

God also tells us in His word, 'If you love me you will obey my commands’ (John 14:15).

May we seek to see with God's eyes the opportunities around us.

May we seek to feel in our hearts what God feels in His.

May we love others like God loves others, and may our actions be an expression of that love.

Let’s go out and bless someone today!