I thought for days and days about what I could send home with the guys from Boise out of appreciation for their hard work, and for showing us a tangible measure of God's grace by repairing our broken roof.
Alabama T-shirt? Sweet thought, but who am I kidding? They're hardcore Boise State fans. A couple of them did end up with a few "Roll Tide" souvenirs, though. :)
Coffee mug? Not travel-friendly.
Books? I never read books I receive as gifts.
I was/am stumped. In what tangible way could we show our appreciation? How could we send them off with a little token of gratitude?
Bottom line, we couldn't. Nothing seemed big enough. Nothing seemed appropriate enough. All we could give was some deep, heart-felt "thank you so much"es and hugs. And a few tears.
We started this morning the same way we started last Monday morning: in prayer with our fellow brothers in Christ. I cried both times - last Monday because I was just so happy they were here, this Monday because I hated to see them leave. In just five days' time, they took a tornado-stricken roof and repaired it almost completely. Just a few major details remain before we can move in - and those will happen soon enough.
We are extremely grateful to God for providing these men to us to rebuild what was broken. We are thankful that their families and friends lent them to us for a week. We are thankful for their sacrifice, for working in the disgustingly hot weather, and for being a blessing to us. All we could send with them today was our words - and even then, those were not quite enough.
I was one of the guys that God commissioned to go to Alabama and help in any area that I could with the tornado damage. I thought at first it would be doing things to bless others but as the week ended I was overcome with a feeling that I was the one that got the blessings. There are no words to describe how God touched me through Katie, Blake and Katie's family.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how all this works but I know God touched me and I will be praying that in some small way God used our team to spread His word.
God Bless,
Mike