It was just a pair of shoes...but HOW they were received brought on a whole different emotion.
When we prepare for a kids clothing day, we make space on the hanging racks by taking many clothes out of the room and cover up some clothes to indicate they cannot be chosen from on this day(mens or womens). It is not uncommon for people to try and look under the “cover” to see what is there. It is then that we gently tell them that those are clothes for a different day. Usually that is the extent of the explanation. Sometimes people are persistent, but we usually are persistent in return--to keep order. We have learned that whereas rules can help keep order, sometimes EXCEPTIONS to your own rules can cause great disorder…sometimes.
Last week for kids day we had the room prepared as usual. There were some women’s clothes still in the room, but they were covered up. And as usual, some tried to look under the cover to see what was there. A woman looked under the cover and saw some shoes that probably would fit her.
I don’t know which one of us decided to make the exception, but one from our team did. Perhaps someone saw the women’s shoes or lack of them. Perhaps one of us was moved by the look in the woman’s eyes as she asked. Perhaps the Spirit of God simply moved one of us to say 'yes'. In any case, we gave her the shoes.
She wept. And she was very thankful.
Our EXCEPTION did not bring chaos in this case, Praise the Lord! This exception brought peace as we truly saw a need fulfilled! We still keep the rules, but we also allow the Spirit of God to direct us when we should make an exception.
Dan Lincoln
When we prepare for a kids clothing day, we make space on the hanging racks by taking many clothes out of the room and cover up some clothes to indicate they cannot be chosen from on this day(mens or womens). It is not uncommon for people to try and look under the “cover” to see what is there. It is then that we gently tell them that those are clothes for a different day. Usually that is the extent of the explanation. Sometimes people are persistent, but we usually are persistent in return--to keep order. We have learned that whereas rules can help keep order, sometimes EXCEPTIONS to your own rules can cause great disorder…sometimes.
Last week for kids day we had the room prepared as usual. There were some women’s clothes still in the room, but they were covered up. And as usual, some tried to look under the cover to see what was there. A woman looked under the cover and saw some shoes that probably would fit her.
I don’t know which one of us decided to make the exception, but one from our team did. Perhaps someone saw the women’s shoes or lack of them. Perhaps one of us was moved by the look in the woman’s eyes as she asked. Perhaps the Spirit of God simply moved one of us to say 'yes'. In any case, we gave her the shoes.
She wept. And she was very thankful.
Our EXCEPTION did not bring chaos in this case, Praise the Lord! This exception brought peace as we truly saw a need fulfilled! We still keep the rules, but we also allow the Spirit of God to direct us when we should make an exception.
Dan Lincoln
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