The only reason.

Jason and Angie came into our lives in a way similar to how Gary and T. did.  Similar in how my friend Ken says it goes many times in his walk. On the surface it appears that people come into our lives for business purposes, yet God has actually placed them in our lives for so much more. He did the same for me several years ago with my good friend Randy, and I've been forever grateful that God works this way.

Jason and Angie at times work on a chicken farm here in north-central Alabama. It's a common employment source for many. I've never lived in an area where there were so many chicken farms. If you're munching down tonight on a deep fried, deliciously baked, or masterfully grilled thigh, leg, wing, or breast, there's a good chance it comes from right here in Alabama. And you thought all they produced was great football teams! At one time I lived in Kentucky's thoroughbred horse country and trust me when I tell you, these so-called chicken farms are the very equivalent to the big horse farms of the Bluegrass state. What is really interesting to me (because I'm weird) is that they transport the chickens from the farms to the processing centers around here via old school buses.

White painted school buses run up and down the road in front of our house all the time. I guess they paint them white so the school kids won't get on them, I don't know. But, the question for me is, why school buses, why not transport trucks? If you have the answer please write back. I've learned that the really , really tough job on these farms is being a “Chicken Catcher.” They work primarily after dark, and as the job title suggest, they run around catching chickens all night, and then load them onto the school bus in boxes. Man, I would hate that job - my back hurts just from the thought of it! Well anyway, I don't really know if Jason and Angie do any chicken catching, but I do know they work on chicken farms.

Alfreda and Kelvin owns one of the chicken farms they work on. From what I hear, about ten years ago these two Floridians, tired of the everyday grind of chasing after the almighty corporate dollar, packed up their belongings and moved to Alabama to start a chicken range. Seems odd, huh? After years of very humble living while struggling to get the farm up and running they now have a very profitable business that employs many workers in this area. At some point in this process they met Jason and Angie and took them into their family more so than their employment. Alfreda and Kelvin have for years tried to do everything they could to show Jason and Angie a Christ-like love. I can only imagine the amount of prayers, love, time and money they've poured out over the years on this couple and their two small girls.

Last July Dale and I were sitting in the front porch swing and she said that God had put it on her heart to find some children that needed our help with back to school shopping, she just wasn't sure where to look for them. Now mind you, I had been unemployed for sometime at that point, and Dale had been absent from work for months because of the kidney surgery so looking for someone needing a hand-out wasn't high on my list of priorities at that point. Two days later (the absolute truth) I received a call from Jason, someone I didn't know, asking for my help. I did what I could to help him out of his legal predicament, and in the process was introduced to Alfreda and Kelvin. They shared the bigger picture of what Jason's needs were. I went back home and told Dale; I think God has sent you the kids you were looking for. He does that you know!

Dale and Alfreda talked over the phone, then spent a full day taking the two precious girls shopping for clothes, backpacks, shoes, supplies, etc. and when she got home she was simply in tears. She told me about how the previous year when the girls returned to school from summer break all of the other kids had showed up with new backpacks, but their parents could only afford two old U.S. Postal satchel bags they found at a thrift store for a dollar. She said the girls told her and Alfreda how so embarrassed they were to carry those bags to school all year. Something as simple as Dale and Alfreda buying them REAL backpacks had a very significant meaning for these kids. This school year they returned from summer break with new clothes for each day of the week, several pairs of new shoes for different activities, and just as important new backpacks for their supplies and books.

Dale will tell you, this was a shopping experience she'll never forget. 
 

Several times since then I've tried to help Jason and Angie out. When work has been slow at the chicken farm I've hired them to do work around the house for us. The problem is, they're just not very good workers! They both like to stand around while they smoke a lot. This really irks me, not just because I'm not a smoker, but because they waste what little money they have on cigarettes instead of taking care of the kids needs first. Angie loves to text way too much on her cell phone which really slows her down at work, then Jason has an excuse to sit around and wait for her to get started again. Plans to hire her as a regular housekeeper faded pretty quickly when I saw how poor her work ethics were. It's got to a point now that I wouldn't hire either of them because it's just too frustrating for me. I suspect this may also be the reason Alfreda and Kelvin doesn't hire them full-time either. I think there are far too many Jasons and Angies out there that have become so addicted to the help they get from other's that they can no longer help themselves. It's why they have signs in National Parks that say, don't feed the bears. They soon forget how to hunt for their own food, and rely solely on people's hand outs, thus becoming a greater danger to our society.

Even with that being said, please understand that Dale and I are still very interested in helping the girls any way possible. We bought them several Christmas gifts and made up treat bags with candy and fruit for them. As I've said before, when it comes to children- I've got the softest of hearts. Far too many people I talk to can easily give you their own examples of a few Jason,s and Angie,s in their past that has caused them to harden the hearts toward helping others. Instead of simply understanding what their role is and looking to the Holy Spirit to lead them, they simply choose not to help anyone again.

So what is my point with all this? I'm glad you asked! You see, through all of the situations we've talked about over the past few weeks, I've learned that each case is different. You can't just have one way of helping folks and expect that to realistically meet the specific needs on each individual. What this person may need, another one might not. All too often we want to take the easy way out and just throw a few bucks at the problem. Charities know that now, which has led them to constantly hold their hands out. Mere money may not be what some needy actually need, although I'm convinced they will take it regardless, for in their minds they think that their greatest need is money. It's often a way the enemy tricks us into ignoring the truth in a situation. Our greatest need is, and will always be God! If we were to ask a group of people to write out a list of their five greatest needs for 2011 how many would put Him on their list? Yet, how many will have some sort of money item on their list? I venture to say that more than 90% would include more money in one form or another as being an important NEED in their lives. It's hard to say how many would list God as being the same.

Here's a few more things I've learned through my efforts to help others, beginning with the most important one:

Help others because it's what Jesus declared He expects of us, and for no other reason. Don't be motivated by the idea it'll win you some sort of treasure or jewels in your crown in heaven. Do it, because He says do it. Obeying Him is all he asks! If you need some sort of reward program to do his commands, then I simply suggest you look back at last week's big event ,Christmas Day, and realize that we've already been given our reward in advance. So I say, let this be the only reason!

Always follow the leading of the Holy Spirit or you'll make lots of costly mistakes. Many people simply won't help others today because of the mistakes they've made in the past as to how they've helped people. Although few will ever admit this to be true. Knowing what and how to help others properly will only come through the Holy Spirit. There is no doubt in my mind that there were many sitting in that church in Belgium in the 1940s that felt the nudging of the Holy Spirit to do something about the passengers of those trains, yet they refused to obey. If we try and help those in need through any venue other than the direction of the Holy Spirit haven't we merely relegated ourselves to the role of chicken catchers.

Never fool yourself into expecting a THANK YOU. Whether you receive one or not is irrelevant! Don't let it motivate to discourage you from helping the next person God sends your way. That's a tough one, I know! I hear this complaint so often it makes me sick. People will even try and convince you that you were mistreated by the mere fact you did not get a proper thank you for what you did. Don't fall into that trap, do what you're called to do, and simply move forward.

What someone else may be called to do in a situation isn't necessarily what God is calling you to do. As in Alfreda and Kelvins case, God has called them to do something completely different that what He's called Dale and I. A very important lesson in all of this is to never have a mistaken identity. So often we allow our-self to take on another person's role in a situation, and when it doesn't turn out well, we simply have another reason to stash away in our box of excuses for not helping the next person. In some situations God may be calling you do nothing more than write a check, other times it may be to provide food, clothing or a car. Whatever it is, if you depend on the Holy Spirit to lead you, it will be much clearer to understand your role in the situation. As with Gary, T, Jason and Angie, as well as the many untold, God has led Dale and I to help each one in vastly different ways. Way's that we, our self could not have understood except through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Understanding our role in each individual situation will multiply our ability to provide the help they truly need.

Constantly, and consistently remind those you help that it's not you meeting their needs, rather it's God working through you. It's God showing them how much He loves them. It's far too easy to be lured into taking the credit for our actions, when someone else learns what we've done. Well meaning friends and family want to make sure we're recognized for our efforts, so remind them as well. Don't allow yourself to get caught up with the common activity of patting yourself on the back. This ain't about you! Get that – helping others ain't about you! It's about Him!

And lastly, I hear folks all the time talk about what great works they would do if they won the Lottery, or came into some enormous amount of cashola. How they would give to this charity, and that group of people. How they would help the needy, sick, and poor. I always think to myself, blah, ba, blah, ba, blah.....What are you doing with what God has already given you? Do you really think God's going to give you 2.3 million dollars to “help the poor” when you have such a hard time giving up a hundred bucks for some groceries for the family down the street? Come on, read His word, it gives us the answer to our lottery fantasies. We have to gain the heart of a giver first, then make a lifestyle out of giving (we're not just talking about money) then He will give us more where that came from.

There's no better feeling for me than when He gives me more (whatever) in order for me to give away more. For then I know I'm doing His will and He's pleased. Let me ask, have you fooled yourself into thinking you have the heart of a giver, yet you simply don't have the resources to give? That's another lie from the enemy. Each of us have something we can give to the needy. We just have to be willing to let go of it!

As last weeks journal item said, we have to get out of the mindset of, how much can we afford to give, and start thinking in terms of, what is it going to take to make a difference in the situation. I truly believe we'll never get to where God is calling us as a church until we reprogram our way of thinking about the needy. Just as with the widow's mites, it ain't about the amount, it's about the heart. Many of us give money to one charity or another every year, yet it has little to do with our heart. It's merely a tax thing or we do it for any number of wrongly motivated reasons.

As I've referenced several times throughout these last four journal items; there's a train sitting outside our window.It's not to be ignored! You really think God didn't park that train outside the church's windows week after week for a reason? I am convinced He's doing the same outside our windows today. The question then becomes, are we willing to learn from someone else's past, or will we simply choose to do as so many of them did – nothing. The train isn't to be ignored, because it's the government's role to take care of. It's not to be ignored because, it's someone else's role in the church. It's not to be ignored because, our plates are too full of activities already. It's not to be ignored because, the passengers are from a different race, country, or religious background than us.IT'S NOT TO BE IGNORED!

Again I ask you to consider making one very important new year's resolution. Resolve yourself as an individual, a family, as a small group, as a church, as a community to dump out that box of excuses for not doing all that you can, and begin evaluating what it's going to take to make a real difference in the lives of the needy around you.  Commit yourself to do more in 2011 than ever before.  Let it be written of us, that in 2011 we quit being chicken catchers and became more and more like God chasers.   Doug

footnote: 2011 begins the fourth year of this journal, and that's hard to believe. As with the years before, I'm looking forward to learning what God is trying to teach me in 2011 through those that He puts on the pathway with me. So from the; Journey From the Pathway, I wish you a very happy, and growth-filled New Year's to come!