Operation Ruth Bombs
Well, first a few lingering Easter thoughts, and then I will share a little quarantine family adventure with you.
I am the first pastor in Living Streams history to put up a goose egg for Easter attendance. Ha ha.
I am so thankful Jesus came to give us the kind of life that death doesn’t end, but actually gives birth to. Alleluia!
I am so excited Jesus promised to return again and restore everything, just as if sin damage had never happened. Hosanna!
I am rejoicing that some people responded to the Easter message by saying “yes” to Jesus in their life. Woohoo!
Now, for a little quarantine adventure…
It was a normal quarantine day, filled with an easy, unhurried wake-up. Then, homeschool began and, before long, confusion set in and tempers flared. By lunch, Brit and I were a bit frayed from the juggling act of doing our jobs, bouncing between 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 8th grade lessons, and being cooped up for going on 744 hours now. We all recessed together with a family walk, a half-hour of reading, and Brit’s Music by the Decades lesson. Feeling somewhat refreshed, I went to my email inbox, which I could almost feel swelling by the second. I took the afternoon to try and get some good work done.
Then, in the evening, we huddled together for “Operation Ruth Bombs.” I had been excited about this idea for a few days. In one of our morning Bible times—also a lesson Brit has inserted into the homeschool routine—we read about Ruth. Ruth and Noami went through some hard things and found themselves in serious isolation and without resources. They lived in Israel, where God’s law decreed that all the field owners were not to harvest the edges of their property, in order to provide for the poor.
As we discussed this story, we were inspired to find a way to provide for the less fortunate. So, I went to Trader Joe’s and bought four grocery bags of food items to give away. (I got a couple of dirty looks from Trader Joe’s people, but—“whatevs”.) Our plan was to take three bags to some friends who are in the low- or no-income category. For the other bag, we wanted to pray on the way and ask God to give us some clues as to who He wanted us to give it to.
For the first five minutes of the car ride we were silent and wrote down anything we felt that Jesus brought to mind. Layah drew a picture of a yellow house with a white roof, a black car, and a palm tree. Evangeline drew a yellow house with a silver car. And Bella said she just kept seeing the color purple. Brit saw something about a carport garage. Armed with that, we set out with a little hope.
After we dropped off the three grocery bags to our friends, we drove around the neighborhood, looking for a house with some of the pictured items. We drove by a yellowish house with a silver and black car, but it happened so quickly we kept on driving. We also didn’t see purple, a palm tree, or a carport garage. After driving for another five minutes, we had not found another house with silver and black cars, so we drove back by the yellowish house. When we did, the garage door was open and it had it had no back wall, so it looked open, like a carport. We saw it had white trim on the roof facia. The lady standing in the garage was wearing bright purple gloves. And from where we parked, we could see a tall palm tree rising above the house from the back yard.
We were all a little dumbfounded. I had prepared myself to ease my girls’ disappointment if these things didn’t show up. I have seen God work in this way before in both the Scriptures and my life. But I know sometimes it doesn’t work out so smoothly. This, however, was amazing. Brit and I were both amazed and grateful that God had seen fit to show off for our girls. Though my girls also thought it was cool, they were not as shocked as we were. Their child-like faith is such a great reminder to me to simply trust and obey!
I have no idea who the lady was, what her story is, or what that bag of groceries meant to her. But I know Jesus led us to her house at this time to let her know He loves her and will take care of her. And my girls and I got another reminder of God’s love, attention to our prayers, and faithfulness to guide us.
God bless you and yours,
David
p.s. In this time of isolation I would love to hear from you. Please share any stories of “Ruth Bomb” generosity you are giving or receiving. Please also let me know how your experience with the church online has been—either good or bad.