I was standing in line at the post office about a year ago and I could feel the presence of the woman behind me. We had locked eyes a couple times and swapped smiles. I didn’t know what the attraction was but I could feel it. She soon tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Would you pray for me?” I was delighted by her request and I said, “We’re sisters, aren’t we?” With kind eyes, she simply said, “Yes we are.”

Her name was Sara. She had a beautiful accent and told me she was from Kenya, she had been here in the US for 4 years. When I asked her what we could pray about, she said she didn’t want to project the bitterness she felt from being a single mother onto her son. Wow. What a sincere cry from the heart and one God knew I could deeply relate to.

Motherhood is not oppression.

I feel like someone needs to hear this today. Motherhood isn’t always easy. Matter of fact, it may be one of the hardest things we ever do, but it’s not oppression. I had children in the best of circumstances and in the worst. And I remember the loneliness and frustration of parenting alone during my single mom years. It’s real. But it’s so important we don’t count the sacrifice and difficulty as something that’s holding us back from a better future.

God, in His infinite wisdom, seen fit to make you a mother. And as a mother of 6, I often feel spread so thin, I silently pray for grace to get through the moment. But in His sovereignty, considering all the other incredible plans He has for you, saw fit for motherhood to be your best training ground or environment to learn and grow into all the other beautiful things He has for your life.

If you’re raising a child alone, I honor you. Right here and now, I bow my head and lift you up because I know this isn’t how you expected or hoped it would be. But I also want to remind you, you’re not alone. God is with you, and far closer than He seems most days. Those children of yours are a gift. So as you’re tucking them in tonight after dinner, baths and homework, look at them and remember, you can’t reach your destiny without them. You are blessed and endowed with everything you need for the journey. And even the hardest days are all part of the process.

One of the teams were out on one of the coldest nights during the winter storm. They were actually driving to check in about 7 more guests into hotel rooms. Gwen and Sug took a wrong turn through a parking lot and noticed a small tent pitched on the side of a building. Sug was compelled to check it out just to make sure no one was inside. But there was. Jimmy was inside, he’s the one standing next to me in the picture. His fingers were blue and he was shivering uncontrollably. He had everything he owned stacked around him trying to stay warm, but failing. Sug began asking him questions to see if he wanted shelter, Jimmy answered but was in somewhat of a stupor thinking he was dreaming. He willingly got in the car and into a room, and soon got warm enough and regained coherence. Sug packed all of his stuff and even rode his bike across the street in the snow so he didn’t lose any of his belongings. He was so, so grateful. And I can’t help but think what could have happened to him that night.

Jimmy is just one story. There are so many. And all of them changed me, deeply. Several of them got to come to church on Sunday and Jimmy told me after service, “He was on cloud nine being there with us.” Anthony, the other one in the picture, went up for prayer during service and just gripped onto Cam so tight. He didn’t have words, just a tangible grief. Cam held him, praying a little, but mostly just sitting with him in the pain. It was utterly beautiful and a total honor to behold.

I’ve been wanting to write every day since this ended. But I couldn’t. My family needed me to slow down and just be with them. And I’ve needed time to sit quietly before the Lord to process the whole experience. Still, it seems almost too soon and too sacred to put a pen to. And I don’t believe words will do it justice. I’ve also been wanting to share with each and every one of you, as a gift and offering to the city of Wichita for all the ways you wrapped your arms around our brothers and sisters on the street. I wanted to give you at least a glimpse of the magnitude your contributions accomplished. This whole experience was holy ground. Truly. The kind of thing I need to take my sandals off just to talk about.

Getting to know them, over the course of 10 days, gave me a unique kind of joy. Going door to door, serving meals and connecting with each soul is something you can’t describe. You can’t even tell it. They checked out Monday and the whole day weighed heavy on my heart. I felt such concern for their well-being, like I would for my own children. It just hurt. I know getting them out of the sub-zero temperatures was important. It mattered. And it was worth it. But I can’t help but think what God’s wildest dreams are for them. He loves them, and not one of them goes overlooked or unnoticed. They’re his sons and daughters. And He sees. He knows. And He cares. I find myself wide open to go on new journeys to the deep places of His heart for his children without shelter.

I’m pretty sure I already knew this, but it’s clearer now. Only a couple of things will really matter when it’s all said and done.

-Did you learn how to love?
-And how well did you serve the least of them?

Fancy buildings, ministry titles, and even casting out demons won’t mean anything when we stand before the throne. The size of our congregations, our prophetic words, and even our greatest accolades won’t be on our minds when we see Jesus face to face.

I believe it will only be,

-Did I learn how to love?
-And how well did I serve the least of them?

May we never forget what we carry in our heritage and spiritual DNA. To love, protect and defend the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, the marginalized, and the ones who everyone else has thrown away. It’s who we are and the thing we must not forsake. We can’t build doctrines around scripture if we have to throw away the life Jesus lived to do it. He fulfilled the law, so we have to pay close attention to how he did that. And from what the gospels tell us, he did it with scandalous grace and an unwavering love that covered all of our depravity and broke all the rules.

I dare you to trust again that eternity is within our reach. The kingdom is now, on earth as it is in heaven. All He needs is our ‘yes,’ even when it’s too big to understand. He does the heavy lifting and brings all the pieces together. It’s amazing what can happen when we mobilize and take the risk of jumping in. Riding this unplanned wave of the Spirit was hard work, but awaiting us on the other side was an explosion of grace that impacted a whole city. It reminds me of an African Proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Amen. Thank you Wichita.