“We know that the power of life is wrapped in small gestures of compassion, and in the gifts that spill from the heart.”
A friend told me the story about a remarkable woman in his church. She was licensed by the state to be a foster-care home for children with special needs. This requires fortitude and resilience, not knowing how long the children will be with you (maybe days or perhaps weeks), or how many children you may have at one time (as many as six).
One year, at Christmas time, money was short. Not just for presents, but also for food. There was a knock at the door. The children answered. Standing outside were three men wearing red bandanas–as “masks”–on their face. At first the children were uneasy, but saw that all three were carrying sacks of groceries. And even they knew that people, who rob you, usually don’t bring groceries.
They went to get their “mother,” and when she arrived at the door, on the stoop sat 13 sacks of groceries. At the curb, a 1959 Cadillac convertible, the top down, with two of the men sitting up on the back–as if they were in a parade–while at the wheel the third, all of them still wearing their red bandannas and doing the “queen’s wave,” shouting, “Hi-yo. Silver, away!”
On each one of the sacks of groceries was written in big black calligraphy, “God’s desperadoes have been here.” The children asked their mom if they could sleep with some of the sacks in their room, never having seen that much food before.
Can I tell you the rest of the story? To this day, no one knows who those three men are. The children don’t know. The mother doesn’t know. The pastor doesn’t know. However, when he began to tell the story, the people who heard realized, “I am one of God’s desperadoes.”
Yes, I suppose it is that simple. Easy? Probably not. But we sure do make it complicated when it doesn’t have to be…wherever God is leading your heart is where you shall go. To bring comfort in times of sorrow, food in times of hunger, peace in times of anguish, love in times of despair. What have you done lately to be one of “God’s desperadoes?”
Take some time to discuss with your group what “small gestures of compassion” have spilled from your heart or perhaps where are you holding them back?
How can we strive to make those around us feel consumed with God’s grace, peace and love?
Close in prayer for those ‘in need of a Savior’…even if it’s you!
This devotional is part of a series of work team devotionals written for the Christmas UM ARMY Camp by Marla Matthews, Director of Youth Ministry at Clear Lake United Methodist Church.
Photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/amandacphoto/
1 thought on “Youth Devotional: God’s Desperadoes”