It all seemed so innocent and worthwhile. Our church was having an evangelistic push by encouraging members to pair up in twos and canvas our neighborhoods. We were instructed to just make a friendly “invite” to visit our church. This seemed so simple and worthwhile to me, so I agreed to participate. When the day came for our drive, the lady I was to be paired with came up sick and couldn’t participate. We live in a safe community so I decided to go by myself. My experience that day has changed my whole way of thinking. It really impacted my life.

 To put it mildly, nothing went as I expected. I had more doors slammed in my face than I care to remember. The excuses were all over the board: “I don’t have time to talk.”, “I already go to church.”, - and there was foul language. I was feeling pretty despondent and ready to quit, but I thought I’d do this one more time at the house on the corner. When I knocked on the door, I heard a child yelling – then the mother opened the door hurriedly asking what I wanted. She had a cigarette in her mouth while holding a baby with no diaper. The child I heard when I knocked, looked to be about two, and was also naked. I only got about halfway through a sentence of why I was there when she frantically said, “I don’t have time to talk and shut the door.” That was it. I was through. I didn’t want any more of this!

 As I was driving home, I couldn’t get that lady with the two children out of my mind. So I stopped for a cup of coffee just to reflect. As I sat there thinking, it dawned on me how selfish I was. My whole mission was to satisfy a goal that I had, with no real feelings for the people. I was intruding! I asked myself how I could do something for that mother and her children. She really seemed like she needed help and maybe even a friend. But, after our first experience, would she allow me to help?

Then I thought of a plan. I went to a store and got a carton of cigarettes and a big bag of diapers and headed back to that house on the corner. I walked up to the front door with my cigarettes and diapers and knocked. The door cracked open and I quickly said, “I have diapers and a new carton of cigarettes for you. May I help?” The door opened slowly to let me in. I introduced myself and told her that when I was here before, I sensed she could use some help and a friend. She thanked me, and for the next three hours, we changed diapers, tidied up the house, played with the children, and had a much-needed conversation that has changed my way of thinking about many things

I normally would be somewhat judgmental regarding a lifestyle like hers, but I discovered how that judgmental feeling faded after I got to know her. I truly, for the first time in my life, was seeing someone through their eyes and not mine. This is one of the most wonderful feelings one can experience.

This experience happened about five years ago and yes, this lady – who wants to remain anonymous – has joined our church. But because of our experience, we have convinced our church to completely change its way of interacting within our community. We no longer have a program that just tries to get people to attend our church, but rather a program that looks to help families in our community deal with life and some of the curves life throws. Oh yes, and we don’t care if they come to our church, we call this “unconditional community love”, and this wonderful lady – who lived in the house on the corner – is giving back in a most beautiful way.

This story was shared some two years ago, but just it just never was posted on www.aswedoLife.com. I especially like the woman’s ‘take’ on being judgmental.

Doug
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