As you go about your new day and week – be intentional toward others (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
Intentionally…
- Smile
- Say a word of kindness
- Move toward someone in love
- Show mercy
- Pause for one moment
- Choose your next word carefully
- Minister as Jesus Christ
My friend Craig Stevenson shared a funny but specific story about how he was able to intentionally bless a man in his church but ended up receiving an even greater blessing.
Delbert and Craig’s Story by Craig Stevenson
One of the first student events we did at Edgewood was to take the students and Youth Sponsors to Six Flags Great America in Chicago. We left early on Saturday morning and got back very late that evening. When we got back we did a quick sweep through the vans to clean up any trash that was left on them. Because it was so late, we decided to finish cleaning them after church the next day. The next morning at church, Delbert was mad and was wandering through the halls looking for “this new Youth Pastor”. I had not been introduced to Delbert yet, but I quickly found out that he was in charge of the vans. That morning, he decided he would ban me from using the church vans because they were not as clean as they needed to be. Over the next several weeks and months, I heard stories about how mean and abrupt Delbert could be. At that point, I decided to to do everything I could to pray for him, go out of my way to be nice to him and look for ways to include him in the student ministry. I figured that if he got to know the students, he would begin to see they weren’t as bad as he thought.
Anyway, it didn’t take long for he and I to become good friends. I invited Delbert to come on to our Youth Sponsor Team and at first he said no. Over the next several weeks, I noticed him starting to stand outside the door of our Sunday School classes to keep people quiet so the students could learn the Bible without interruption. Finally, he gave in and took his place on our team. I won’t bore you with the entire story but here are some of the highlights…
- Delbert, at 79 years old, became a Youth Sponsor and ended up going to youth camp with us…twice.
- He quickly became a favorite of the students and Youth Sponsors and they did everything they could to include him and make him feel welcome.
- One Fall, I challenged the students to raise a certain amount of money for a mission project and if they met that goal, I would dye my hair metallic blue. Needless to say, they surpassed the goal, and my hair…well you see the picture.
- Delbert used to check on our house while we were out of town to make sure everything was good. One day, he stopped by our house and our neighbor (Kenny), came out to find out who he was and what he was doing. For years, our neighbor had called me Chris…regardless of how many times I corrected him (I finally gave up after a while). Long story short, when he mentioned his neighbor, Chris, to Delbert…Delbert adamantly corrected him and Kenny never called me Chris again.
- Delbert loved our family and he did everything he could to make sure we were always taken care of. Occasionally, he would even stop by our house, unannounced, just to see if he could eat lunch with us and spend time with our family.
I could go on for days and days with stories of Delbert. I miss my friend and I’m looking forward to seeing him again one day. Why do I tell you all of this? For many, this will bring back a lot of great memories. For everyone, I hope is this will challenge you to find someone that seems like they are mad at the world (or maybe just a thorn in your side) and begin to pray for them. Then, don’t just pray for them…find a way to look past the hard exterior and proactively seek out ways to serve them. It is amazing what God can do when we are serious about loving people…all people…even the hard ones. In other words…who’s your Delbert?
Be Intentional Toward Others
Incredible story, isn’t it?
All because my friend chose to be intentional toward others.
This week, may God grant us all the wisdom to try to do this with others.
Image Credit Roberto Huczek
Original Facebook Post from Craig Stevenson
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