It's All About Caring Enough to Share

I have a good friend who has been going through a tough time.  He has been incredibly courageous confronting this hideous disease called Cancer.  My friend, over the years has given much to the community through his teaching and coaching and his example of just being an all around great guy!  His family is a treasured part of FUMC Washington's faith community!

So, some of our members decided it was time to do something to help.  We're hosting a dinner and asking for free-will donations.  It's time that we step up to not just help out with prayers and presence but to help out practically with finances.  Co-pays, medicine, transportation costs-that's not cheap!  There are some brilliant people planning and coordinating this event.  I'm not the brilliant one, all I did was post it to our church Face Book page and start sending out invites.

But wow!  What an impact already!  We have 122 followers on the First United Methodist Church, Washington, Missouri Face Book page.  I posted the event somewhere around 7:00 last night (so it hasn't even been a full 24 hours).  As of 9:40, we had 45 confirmed attendees, 24 "maybe" responses, and 34 "unable to attend" but here's the big whopper number-there are still 763 outstanding RSVP requests for a total of 866.  Two hours earlier, that total number was 662.  I did not send out all of those invites!  I don't think the other administrators on our Face book page sent out all of those invites.  This has happened because friends invited friends who invited friends.  One by one, "word of mouth", spread the word!  My oh my, how the word has spread!

I am so incredibly grateful and humbled by this small community who are coming out in droves to help!  They care enough to share in the "for better" and the "for worse" times in people's lives!  This is community.  This is Christian faith and fellowship at work.  This, my darling friends and readers, is what it's all about!

Here's what Paul said in Hebrews 13 (The Message Paraphrase):

"Make sure you don't take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others."

I intend to be there on November 5th to do what I can to help.  If you happen to be in the Washington, Missouri area on that day come on by!  Care enough to share-that's what we do in our walk of faith!

It's nice to hang out with brilliant, caring people!