Story

Most of my life I’ve gotten the chance to “step” into other peoples lives.

Think about it, how many conversations do you overhear while you are in the grocery store waiting in line to check out? How many people did you pass by at school who were in the middle of a deep or light conversation? How many times have you been sitting in a car in traffic when you looked over and saw someone on the phone, or maybe by themselves, talking or singing? For the briefest of moments you are in that person’s life. We see tears, laughter, scowls... all from people we’ve never even met.

Yesterday while riding the bus with Margaret, she pointed to two birds on a rooftop and said “I wonder what they think of us.” The first in a series of gentle nudgings from God—it was like he was saying, “pay attention, each person you come in contact with today has a story.” I heard Casting Crowns Does Anybody Hear Her? three times yesterday on the radio on two different stations. For as long as I can remember God has allowed me to see snippets, but this time things were a little different. It’s like hearing God say “dig deeper”. Don’t just see it, pray about it, store it in your heart—like being prepared to actually DO something.

Not that it’s unusual for me to cry, but the third time the song came on the radio I’m singing with it and I burst into tears because I know we fail, as a body we fail to notice and to care, not just to say a prayer for someone in need, but to stop and talk and to see what that need is so that we might better serve. I know I fail.

If judgment looms under every steeple/ If lofty glances from lofty people/ Can't see past her scarlet letter/And we never even met her.

It makes me question who I have missed in my lifetime and whether or not I’m going to continue missing them because I’m too busy to slow down. I’m too busy to do the simple tasks God asks of me. “Stop” “Stop…” “Now go ask if that person needs a ride” or in my case right now “Go talk to that family, make them feel welcome.”

Here’s a step further, I guess I needed a lot of talking to yesterday and I was getting it too…

We dropped the children off after AWANA and normally we watch the kids walk in the door, just that extra making sure that the child is safe. My rider and I both missed one boy walking into his house, but we had to pass back by the house. He is in the 6th grade. He was walking toward a smaller building in his apartment complex, where the washers and dryers are. It didn’t feel right, with the time of day (it was dark outside, 8:30pm) to leave him there, we pulled up beside him and asked him what was up and he said he had to take care of the laundry. It still bothered the both of us, so we parked it and I walked in to talk to him. We waited for 15 minutes so that he could finish and saw him safely back to his home. I was upset with his mother for having him do that instead of taking care of it herself and in the middle of that mental battle—God says, “she has a story too”. Man!!! It is very difficult to care about someone when you want to give them what-for for not taking care of their children.

Does anybody hear her? Does anybody see?
Does anybody even know she's going down today?
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Does anybody see?