Celebrating Small
Seven years of serving among the poor has revealed this truth about me: I long for God to do BIG THINGS here!
What do I mean by that? I want to see the move of Jesus among our beautiful, broken and battered friends in a BIG WAY. I want Him to zap them, rocketing them past their trauma, addiction, mental health and poverty realities. I want to see Jesus provide the resources we need to do ministry in a way that will have a bigger impact. We see so many opportunities to increase the real world help we can give to our friends—housing especially comes to mind but other things as well. The need and the opportunities seem almost endless. I want to see Jesus move in a BIG WAY!
Oddly, at least to me, is this fact: Jesus seems more interested in the small way than the big way. Small steps, small open doors, small resources characterize the way He moves along Colfax and through the work of JOC. He is everywhere present along Colfax, calm, unhurried, patient. We see Him moving all the time. This is His work, His pace, His timing. Sometimes I argue with Him about that, but He always wins that argument!
Seven years of ministry along Colfax has taught me some deep lessons around this theme of big and small.
The First Lesson: We need to trust Jesus for His timing, His pace of bringing change, His resources. It is Jesus’ work and we are simply joining him in it. We trust His plan and simply surrender to it.
The Second Lesson: Our job is to do a million small acts of love for and with our friends. Mother Theresa captures it beautifully: “We all want to do great things. But all we can do are small acts with great love.” That provides focus for our work. We do an endless stream of small acts—meals served, prayers offered, forms filled out, connections to resources, sitting in the hospital with a friend. We do those acts gladly and try to fill each one with great love. It is the work of Jesus and it is beautiful.
The Third Lesson: We celebrate small. When our friends take small steps, we rejoice. When Jesus opens small doors, we walk through them with delight. Jesus moves in a million small ways and it is beautiful to be along for the ride.
One example of those small steps and small doors has been the growth of our Family Room Ministries. Less than a year ago we opened our first Family Room at the Radiant Inn (in a small space) and have seen the powerful impact that has had in the lives of our friends. We opened a second Family Room at the Riviera, another small step. Then, Jesus redirected us from there into a more permanent lease space that serves us even better. Each step small, each leading to impact.
All that small stuff? It adds up. Jesus is doing big things through small stuff. That is a reason to celebrate. We are grateful for your support and want you to celebrate small with us!
Next week we are having our Second Annual Fundraising Dessert at The Hangar at Stanley Marketplace. We are going to Celebrate Small. We will tell you more about the big ways Jesus is at work along Colfax through the small acts of Jesus on Colfax Ministries. We hope you can join us.
You can sign up here.
Blessings,
Shawn