We get to meet lots of people in this life....crazy people, wild people, smart people, sweet people, quiet people, leader people, follower people, needy people, hurting people, etc. etc.  You get the point!

But my point is that they are all God's people....He created each and every person that we come into contact with.  And they were all created for His purpose and for a relationship with Him!  And they all are entitled to receive His love - because that's the way He wants it.

We don't know who we'll meet on a daily basis, but we can be thankful and grateful for each encounter.  We can be on the lookout for Divine appointments - and we can be ready in and out of season to share His love.

I must admit that there have been a few times that I have gotten a little weary with certain types of people that we encounter....the overly needy people, the victims who don't want to help themselves.  The people who always seem to need more than I have to give - the people who always have one thing after another going on.  Sometimes I get tired, worn out, burnt out....but it is in those moments that God is finally able to work through me and shine, because I have come to the end of myself.  And when we come to end the ourselves and He is all we have left to work with, it's when we're able to really get meaningful work done!

I am beginning to get very excited about our upcoming mobile VBS.  The smiles on the kids faces...them dropping everything and running up to greet and hug us.  It's priceless.  They don't really know us.  I mean - they've met us quite a few times.  But they don't have a day to day relationship with us.  They can't possibly love the real "us"....but they do love the Jesus that's in us.  When we go out there and visit with these kids, it's Him who shines....not us.

The past couple of weeks we have run into a few of our local families....ones we haven't seen in a while.  And they are all smiles and excited when we tell them that we'll be out there very soon with a little something new!  We're really more excited than they are though :)

This week we'll take two boxes of clothes to a family that has 4 boys and is constantly in need of clothes and shoes - as we all know how boys can tear through clothes.  And we love those boys...we've known them for a while now and no matter how little they have, they are always so joyful and eager to listen and spend time with us.

Last week we were able to put a few people in touch with a family and little girl that lost their home and all of their belongings to a house fire on Mother's Day.  This family is still very much in need of a place to live and furniture/household good donations. 

But to sit beside this little girl in church on Sunday, and to have her hold my hand and walk down the hall, and then have her ask her mom if she could please sit beside me....it just makes all we do worth it.  She has met me twice but is instantly comfortable and happy around me.  That's the Holy Spirit in me....it is surely not the grumpy, crabby person I am at 8:30 at night after a busy work day!!

I hope that everyone reading this will make it a point to reach out to someone else - to love on someone else - to get involved in someone's else's world besides our own....all in the name of love of Christ.

Loving Radically Through Christ,

Melissa