Dear First Pres,
I am really grateful for your generous response to our Love Our Schools initiative. I’m not surprised. You’ve always been a generous group. Still, I am grateful for the way you have rallied behind the simple idea of sharing a note and gift of encouragement with all the folks who work at Lowell Elementary School, School of Unlimited Learning high school, and Kepler Neighborhood School. As of today, we just need a few more notes and gift cards to cover all three schools. Way to go! May the Lord use these cards to give encouragement, endurance and hope in Christ Jesus.
Let me share with you something that did surprise me, though. About halfway through our Love Our Schools campaign I received a call from one of our members. Since the person wished to remain anonymous, I’ll just say it was Sally. Sally was so excited about what we were doing with Love Our Schools that she had already written a note of encouragement and donated money to bless the three schools right around our church campus. But the Lord was stirring something deeper in her. She couldn’t shake the idea of blessing the employees of Bullard High School. Of course, I explained why we chose to focus on the three schools in the neighborhood of our sanctuary. There was just no way we could cover the whole district.
But God had given Sally a bigger vision. She told me that she felt the Lord’s nudge for her family to cover the cost of $50 gift cards for all 225 employees of Bullard High. She just wondered if the church would help with writing notes of encouragement. She wanted Bullard employees to receive it as a gift from the whole church family rather than one particular family. After confirming what I thought I heard her say, that her family was willing to give over $11,000 to cover the cost of gift cards, it didn’t take long for me to say, “Yes, I think the FPC family will get behind that.”
So, now, Beloved, I need you to prove me right. Although, this is about so much more than me. And, Sally doesn’t want it to be about her, either. It’s about following the Lord’s nudges toward audacious generosity and love. This Sunday, the tables will be set up on the lawn one more time and full of blank notes. I invite you, once again, to write a note of encouragement and appreciation. Some of you are planning to bring notes and cards already. That’s great! It’ll help us to cross the finish line on the first three schools. But I invite all of you to consider writing a note (or two) for the employees of Bullard High School.
The Lord’s timing of this is not lost on me. This last week, after Friday night’s football game between Bullard and Central, as folks were pouring out of the stadium, gunshots rang out in the parking lot. As people scattered or dove to the ground in panic, a young 19 year old fell to the ground with multiple gunshot wounds. By God’s grace, the young man survived, the suspect was apprehended by the Police, and no one else was hurt … at least physically. It was a traumatic and tragic experience for everyone.
No, some gift cards and notes of encouragement won’t change the circumstances of that shooting, but they might change the attitude and heart of those district employees working on the front lines with kids in our city. Who knows, maybe the Lord will use your note and prayer to change a heart for eternity? That’s up to Him. Our job is to simply follow the nudges He speaks into our hearts.
Blessings,
Pastor Jeremy
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