At the middle of a small community in East Texas lies a small neighborhood. You can’t see it from the highway, and if you aren’t paying attention, you’d miss it driving by. None of the main roads go through the middle of it. It is a little more run down than the rest of town, and the homes suggest that the income levels are a little lower as well. It could be anywhere in any state in anytown, USA. This neighborhood, however, is in the town where we now live, and in the center of this little area that runs from Martin Luther King Blvd to Elm Street, to where Ardis Street meets Whitworth, sits Pacific Park.
We first saw Pacific park during Sulphur Springs Work Camp, as 3 of the crews that I was supporting were painting homes for residents in that area. One home was directly across the street from the park, and Emily and Dillon saw a few children playing in a great little water fountain area the first day. I promised them that they could bring their swimsuits the next day and join in.
The next day, Emily and Dillon (along with about 12 hardworking highschool age student missionaries) took full advantage of the water in the splash fountain in the 104 degree heat. Playing alongside them were several kids from the neighborhood. Their faces shouted their their joy like a loudspeaker.
The faces of the parents, brothers, sisters, and aunts sitting around and watching them, however, told a different story. The faces showed struggle. The attitudes betrayed their thoughts. You could tell we were outsiders, and they seemed to wonder why we were there. We played anyway.
That day, as I rounded the corner of the park, I noticed how run down the sign was. It looked like it was riddled with bullet holes, the paint was peeling, and it just generally looked as depressed as the faces I had seen earlier. I remember thinking, “Somebody should do something about that.”
As you can probably predict, before the week was out, we realized that “somebody” meant “us.” Using lumber donated by a local church, and with leftover paint donated by the grateful owner of one of the houses that we painted (the one facing the park), Amy, the kids, and I began the repair and re-painting process on the four signs. I spent a day or two replacing rotted wood and getting rid of all the peeling paint. Then we caulked all the joints and filled all the holes. 4 signs in all, one on each corner. With each day, we got the same strange looks that seemed to ask “why are these people here?” When kids would come up to talk to us, they wanted to know why I was getting paid to do this work, and how much. I told them that I wasn’t, and that I just saw that it needed to be done. I guess a few of them told someone about it.
By the end of painting sign two, we began to get into conversations with the adults in the community. Since the lettering all had to be done with a fine tipped brush (each sign took us about 4-6 hours), we had lots of time to talk. Bethany’s initial seizures and our trips to Dallas Children’s Hospital delayed our completion by a few weeks, but on the day I completed sign four, I had five cars actually stop to say “Thank You”. We met a youth pastor from a neighborhood church who was shocked that he hadn’t seen the need right in front of him. I told him that I now felt confident that I knew who would be maintaining the signs in the future. He smiled, shook my hand in agreement, and headed on home.
Someone told me once that a revival doesn’t start because of great preaching or a nonstop prayer vigil. They are all important parts, he said, but for revival to start, the true spark, is when the preacher pulls a weed in his own parking lot instead of stepping over it.
May we all choose to pull the weeds and meet the needs that are right in front of us this week.
See the rest of the photos, including a completed sign, on our Flickr account!
It was one of those amazing, interesting, wonderful, miserable days today. The kind where you go through some things that were not of themselves the most pleasant, but in the end, come out a better person. This morning I woke up committed to go a day without shoes. I made the commitment over a month ago, and we were going to do a walk with some students in downtown Boise to kind of anchor our day.
When morning arrived, I walked out my door to 44 degree weather, winds, and rain. Not exactly the weather picture I had in mind. Later, as the weather got worse, I wondered if the school would let their kids still participate. Fortunately they did.
To wrap up the day, I had a shareholders meeting for the company that I used to work for. To really ice the cake, my wife and I ended up walking into a room full of suits 10 mins. late, baby in hand, and barefoot. I’ll admit I thought twice about donning my shoes for that moment… but we didn’t.
What we realized is that our convictions and our actions only gain integrity when we are willing to stick with them when it is inconvenient. Otherwise, we’re little more than fair-weather fakes. Thanks to the kids in the rain that helped me see a better part of humanity. Lesson learned.
The TOMS One Day Without Shoes march in Boise, ID with the students of Foothills School of Boise. By marching to the State Capitol in 44 degree rain and wind, these young people were helping to raise awareness for those worldwide who go without shoes every day.
That is the hope that rests in the hearts of a family in Mexico tonight – that they will soon be off the streets. We recently found out the details on our recipient family for our first of two UthBuild March 2010 builds in Puerto Penasco, MX.
Amy working on Stucco, Mexico House 2, March 2009
This first home will go to Beatriz Meneses and her 5 children and 2 grandchildren, who are presently living under a tarp between two adjacent walls. Things are still a little up in the air as to whether we will build a full double version of our typical house, or just complete a portion of what would eventually be their final house, just to get them in. Regardless, it is not too late to participate financially to help make this dream a reality. Please, make your contribution today and help us put a family in a home and off the street.
To learn more about UthBuild, how you can participate in one of our future builds, or to find out about bringing a group of your own to build a home in Mexico, visit our UthBuild page and then drop us a line!
Starting with February, Share5 is proud to bring you a monthly suggestion for a project you can do with your family to help you grow in compassion, sacrifice, passion, teamwork, or leadership while serving others too! Since February 20th is National Make a Blanket Day, what better project to kick off this new tradition than making a no-sew fleece blanket for a hospitalized or seriously ill child?
In the following video, we will show you how to turn 1 yd of fleece fabric (often available as a remnant at your local fabric store) into a pair of fringed fleece baby blankets to be distributed by Project Linus! (be sure to check with your local Project Linus chapter to see what they have the greatest need of. Some may need 1/2 yd baby blankets, while others may prefer larger blankets for youth and teens!)
Project Linus is an organization whose mission is to provides love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.”
Making a fleece blanket is a simple way for a family to practice compassion, sacrifice, passion, and teamwork while providing a great volunteer opportunity to you and a blanket to a child in need.
This video will give you the basics of how to fringe a no-sew fleece blanket for Project Linus by showing the fringing of a 1/2 yard baby blanket. You can also make blankets for teens by using a full 2 yards of fabric!
We did a family blanket night recently, and along with the kids doing 2 baby blankets each, we were also able to create a teen boys blanket (navy blue with guitars), a teen girls blanket (white with bright flowers) and a third teen blanket (blue, brown, and yellow print). Each full-sized teen blanket was made from a full 2 yards of fleece.
This project really came home for us as we were sharing the story with one of our board members recently. When I told him about Project Linus, he said, “That’s where my grandson’s blanket came from!” Three years ago his grandson, a high-school basketball player, had emergency brain surgery and received a basketball-print blanket. He still has the blanket today.
Take the time to make a blanket this month for the Project Linus chapter nearest you. The life you impact with your small gift of love may come home closer than you think. Regardless, isn’t it a small price to pay to put a smile on the face of a child?
By the end of painting sign two, we began to get into conversations with the adults in the community. Since the lettering all had to be done with a fine tipped brush (each sign took us about 4-6 hours), we had lots of time to talk. Bethany’s initial seizures and our trips to Dallas Children’s Hospital delayed our completion by a few weeks, but on the day I completed sign four, I had five cars actually stop to say “Thank You”. We met a youth pastor from a neighborhood church who was shocked that he hadn’t seen the need right in front of him. I told him that I now felt confident that I knew who would be maintaining the signs in the future. He smiled, shook my hand in agreement, and headed on home.
Starting with February, Share5 is proud to bring you a monthly suggestion for a project you can do with your family to help you grow in compassion, sacrifice, passion, teamwork, or leadership while serving others too! Since February 20th is 
Share Well Podcast at iTunes
