Back to School

Today, I dropped off my 5th grade daughter and 1st grade son for their first day of school this year. Going back to school is such a big event in the life of a child. New teacher(s), new classroom(s), new classmates, new schedule, and all of that after having just enjoyed months of what my daughter terms "freedom".
Last weekend our church, The Bridge, and a local hotel, America's Best Inn & Suites, helped some of the children in our community get ready to go back to school by providing backpacks, clothes, haircuts, and hearing & vision exams, through the Give-A-Kid-A-Chance program.
This coming weekend, The Bridge will be a distribution point for school supplies in conjunction with Bartow Collaborative. The kids will receive notebooks, pencils, erasers and all that good stuff so, hopefully, they can go back to school with all the "stuff" they will need to succeed.
While we are giving "stuff" to the kids and their families, I hope that we are also able to give them something else they will need to succeed: the love of God. My hope is that they will know that God loves them and so do I and that is why I give my time, money and energy to help. There may be many things people feel ill-equipped to do in the church: teach, lead, heal, prophesy. But anybody, and I mean anybody, can take a few hours and a few dollars to demonstrate the love of God.
James, one of the first followers of Jesus, wrote that our faith in God has to motivate us to help people when we know that they are in need (James 2:14-17). Do you know anybody who needs help? Can you help? Are you involved with a church that has ways for you to help people in your community? Can you help?
Helping feels good, for sure, but it goes deeper than that. Much deeper. In an act of selflessness, giving something of yourself just to benefit somebody in need, you are participating in the Divine, the Holy. Try it soon and see. I know I'm glad I did.