For the vast majority of us, I'm thinking this Friday holds meaning. When you woke up this morning, there was something you had to do, or perhaps wanted to do. And it likely had a connection with how you want to make a difference on the planet, in all the big and little ways this happens.
I'm doing a lot of that kind of thinking lately. I am coming to a finish line of sorts, ending a time of ministry as a senior pastor to a vibrant, grace-filled, persistently loving community of faith that I cherish deeply. It's impossible to approach the release of this kingdom assignment, which officially happens on May 27th (2018), without a heightened sense of awareness of all that I may or may not be leaving behind in my leadership wake. (More reflections on all of that in a future blog.)
Even without the prompt of a significant life event, we don't have to go very far in a Google search to find countless articles about the spiritual and psychological importance of finding purpose and meaning through the intentionality of making a difference that matters in ways consistent with our resources, beliefs and passions.
Whatever else I might be considering in my reflections right now, one place that provides tangible, obvious evidence to suggest this kind of difference-making, is the face of May. And not just her, but the unique and spectacular family into which she has been embraced.
I am of course talking about Hot Springs Children's Home, about 45 minutes north east of Chiang Mai in Thailand, where orphaned and other at risk children are cared for in a family led by two super heroes of compassion and grace, Pastors Suradet and Yupa. Prompted by their own sense of calling and desire to make a difference that matters, they began welcoming children into their home about 11 years ago. Highview came alongside in partnership a year later. We've never been the same. It's in these two pictures of May that I make my point. With shorter hair and in pink, this shot taken soon after her arrival depicts her undernourished condition as seen in her too-thin frame and the marks of impetigo on her face. I'm glad she's smiling in the 'before' shot, because it was hard to get her to do that at the beginning. She was timid and uncertain and, well tired, as malnutrition will do.
I was there last in January (2018), and the contrast is remarkable. So much confidence! So much spunk! The picture above speaks volumes to the kind of difference the Hot Springs family, and May's Sponsors (monthly donations, twice a year packets, and love) have made in this little life.
Education is a big piece of this. May would not have been able to go to school in her own village. For girls, especially, but all of the mountain children, this puts them at risk for getting stuck in the cycle of poverty, human trafficking, criminal activity, and premature death.
But not May.
I invite you to share in this kind of difference-making.
This year is full of new opportunities. Come with me to Thailand and see for yourself (July 2018, Fall 2018, January 2019 are target dates). Sign up to have your own life changed through sponsorship. Be part of the establishment of a fund that will help ensure May can continue post secondary education if she so chooses. Make a one time contribution to off set some cost of living increases Hot Springs is experiencing. Get on board with a potential building project that's developing even as I write, either with financial contributions or by coming to do some of the labour yourself.
I want what this face is saying. I want to have lived a life that made a difference in important ways. Not big and flashy ways, I left that desire behind a ways back. But in smaller more spectacular ways. Like this face.
If you want something like that too, email me at rabreithaupt@hcckw.ca. I'll even take you out for coffee. Let's talk.
Happy Friday.
