We have heard and some of us may have even said, “The children are our future.” We may have also been guilty of thinking or maybe even saying, “What will the world look like in the hands of these young people?” I want to introduce you to a young man that makes you feel like things will be just fine.
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“He (Jesus) loves us and we have to love people that way,” Jurrell Belonga.  Sometimes we get it wrong; love that is.
What comes to mind when you hear the word “love”? Sometimes I think we use “love” to our advantage. Has a child ever said, “You don’t love me,” when you told them “no?” Other times it feels like the word “love” has been used for just about everything. It becomes watered down; it loses its worth. Even as I am writing this blog post, I am reminded of how often I said, “I love that,” during my interview with Jurrell; I plan to do better. I know love is not just a feeling. Love is an action. Meet Jurrell I met Jurrell around 1995. We began working together for the State of Louisiana in Tuberculosis Control as Disease Intervention Specialists in New Orleans. That would be the first of three jobs we worked together and we also started two businesses together. I left New Orleans in August 2005, just one day before Hurricane Katrina made landfall. When I first left, I made every attempt to stay in touch. Even after he and his family moved to Chicago, I made an effort to touch base with some sense of regularity, but as life would have it, our conversations happened less frequently. Our conversations have now become phone calls on birthdays and holidays. But however infrequent, it is always good to catch up. I found it a real treat to get to hear his What If Christ moment. It is my mission to share moments from people where they are able to see a glimpse of heaven on earth, in their everyday lives. You know when people do the right thing because it's the right thing to do. To know that God’s Will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Nikita and I were neighbors, but we didn't really know each other. I knew the wonderful food aromas that would come from downstairs and she knew the many little feet that I tried to keep from running through the house, as we lived above her in Eastgate.
But it was not until I had moved that I met her. And I am very grateful to have her as a part of our family. Nikita may not always see it in herself, but she is brave. This mom came to a Bible Study, not knowing any of the women there. Although she came in with trepidation, she also came in with a heart that was seeking God. At the time she began attending Bible Study, she was going through some things at home and although she would not have believed it, what she really needed was to be part of a community; a loving community where we operate as a body. Where a heavy load is shared, regardless of whose load. Now, I said Nikita needed community, we are all created to be in community. We were never created to live in isolation. God created Adam and noted he should not be alone. Also, God was right there with them. Scripture even describes Christ followers as a body. Meaning although we are all created uniquely and have our own purpose, we need each other. |
AuthorI love to tell a good God-story, whether it is something God has done in me or others. I want to tell God stories. #WhatIfChrist Archives
November 2020
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