I experienced what true relevence is recently while on a business trip to Houston. As part of our annual "team-building" event, our group of about 100 people, were instructed to play a game of grocery scavenger hunt. We received a list of items which were each given so many points, were told we had to spend exactly $500, and get the most points to win a prize. We are a group of salespeople....so we know how to compete to win. We were assigned teams of 6-8 and were handed a newspaper filled with coupons, the cash, and the point list. We were dropped of at a local Kroger and the game began. Oh yea, we had to get the job done in less than an hour. Whew.
My team finished in 50 mins, spent $498. and had accumulated a huge amount of points because we were excellent shoppers, or so I thought. The competition was stronger than us and we did not win. HOWEVER, the blessing we received from our hard work meant more to us than winning the event and the prize! Allow me to describe:
We hauled about 5 grocery carts of food and staples to the second floor of the Double Tree Hotel in downtown Houston and were assigned a table where we placed our goods and the receipt for our work. Out General Manager then got everyone's attention (keep in mind there are at least 10 teams of 6-8). He shared with us that this exercise was to provide food for charity...we figured that out.....but guess what? Our purchases were for specific families of single-mom households that had been chosen by the local chapter of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, AND these families were at the hotel AND we would get to meet them and their children and bless them with our $500. worth of food. Oh my goodness, we couldn't have prepared ourselves for the blessing we were about to receive. One by one each Mom and her children came in holding posters they had decorated for us, identifying themselves via our team name. The children ran over to the tables and squealed with delight at all the food. At first they didn't know why they were invited to this event, but when we told them that this food was theirs to take come, well, they squealed and cried. A 12 yr old grabbed her Momma's hand and said "Now I can have a birthday Mommy". You see, they had no food at home and no where to get money from to buy any. The food stamps ran out and because Mom had been busy working, she didn't get the paper filled out to get the renewal. It had already been 3 weeks. So the little 12yr old didn't get a birthday of anykind and not much food to eat either for nearly 3 weeks. We visited with her Mom and she said she had just got a new job as a laundry lady for a nursing home and she almost didn't get to come tonight. She is so excited about this job because it is the best job she has ever had. Then she began to cry, saying "thank you so much", and I saw her bow her head and thank God as well. Then several of the men began opening up their wallets and giving these Mom's some cash to help out with other needs. Lots of tears were flowing by all.
I went away with a new vision of what relevence really means. I asked myself, what am I doing to make someone else's life better? Someone I do not know. Yes, I give regularly to my church and to various charities, but I want to do more. We all must do more. We have to get out of our church buildings and be Jesus to people without judging them and their mistakes. (More on that subject in a later post.) Let's get our hands dirty and do what we need to be doing to help someone who cannot help themselves. It's more than writing and sending a check. It's doing the work as well. A good question to ask yourself is, "How many people do I know outside my group of church friends". Is the answer is none, get out and get involved. At the very least, contact your local non-profits and volunteer. It will change your life!
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