Recently I wrote a post titled, When Weariness is Sacred. If you haven’t read that yet, you may want to follow the link and check it out before proceeding....
Rachel and I are blessed to have some truly great friends scattered all over the Southern US (and even some in Canada!)Thanks to blogs, facebook and email we are able to keep up with many of these folks who I’m afraid otherwise would simply be too far away to hear from regularly. Occasionally some of these friends even send us an actual real-life letter! We get excited about letters because they usually signify something significant - the "mundane" touching base stuff is usually handled with an email or facebook comment.
We received one of those letters today. With the author’s permission, I’d like to share some of that letter with you because it came in response to the events which inspired the Sacred Weariness post.
This coming Sunday the Christ Journey community will be processing through the confusion and clarity that the Church (and the world) are experiencing as we anticipate the return of Christ and the reconciliation of all things to their Creator. I think this letter represents one of the ways in which moments of clarity can arise from the depths of confusion...
May 4, 2009
Dear Bret and Rachel,
You guys are so much in my thoughts…and prayers. I would love come visit Christ Journey and see your faith in practice there. You’re both just such a blessing to everyone you come in contact with. That’s why I felt so bad when I read Bret’s post on “Sacred Weariness.” When you’re sacrificing and giving all you’ve got, and yet things seem to conspire against you, I know it’s disheartening. I also knew that God would soon refresh your tiredness and renew your minds in a way I could not. Still, I wished there was something I could do to lighten your hearts.
Friday I had to run some errands, and I passed by Chick-fil-A on the way home. On a whim (?), I turned into the parking lot and went inside. I was thinking maybe they would let me buy some of those “tickets” you tried so hard to win for Harvest House. I approached the girl at the counter and started trying to explain what I was asking for, but I wasn’t doing a very good job of it. It was early afternoon and there were no other customers just then, so some of the other staff walked over to listen to the conversation. Eventually, one of them went to the back to get the manager, and when he arrived, I started all over again, trying to explain what great people you are and how you had driven to Austin to try and win tickets for the food bank, and all the things that had gone wrong that week… By that time there were about a dozen people, customers and staff, gathered around listening to the story. The young manager said, “Wait just a minute and let me see what I can do.” While waiting for him, all the other people joined the discussion, asking me questions, and giving me a chance to talk about how wonderfully God works. We were just having a big old love fest right there in the middle of Chick-fil-A!
After several minutes the manager came back and said, “I can give you 25 of the coupons.” I said, “Oh my gosh, I wasn’t asking you to donate them; I just thought maybe I could buy some.” He said “No, it’s my pleasure,” and everyone around the counter burst into applause. It was just such a good feeling! I thanked him profusely and promised him that I would tell everyone I know about how generous Chick-fil-A is! So…enclosed you will find 25 tickets for Harvest House. I know it’s not as many as if your whole group had won tickets in line, but it’s still 25 meals for 25 people who might no t have a meal otherwise. But that’s not event the end of the story…
[My friend goes on to describe how this event led to a great moment of reconciliation with some Christian friends who also follow the goings-on of our family and Christ Journey via blogs. Due to the personal nature of that story I’ve left out the details, but suffice it to say that there is something incredibly powerful that happens when we come together around a common purpose in Christ.]
I wanted to tell you all this so you will know that your “failure” in Austin wasn’t really a failure at all. It opened up the door for the Chick-fil-A folks here to do a good things and others to witness it; it allowed me, in a very natural way, to be a witness for God’s goodness; and it provided a much needed avenue for another Christian and me to mend fences and build bridges. I’d say your “failure” was quite a success.
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