Impactful People

Reflection by Matt King

We are experimenting with the ways that we gather as a church on Wednesday nights. The midweek gathering time has always been important in the life of our church. We need that time to come together, and to be with those we can connect with specifically on a spiritual level. We need to pray with those who share in the common joys and struggles of our faith, and to be fueled by the presence of Christ’s Spirit we feel when we are together to get us through the rest of the week until we meet again. Sometimes we gather around the table, share in a meal, and share our lives. Sometimes we spend time in prayer and study. Sometimes we actually leave the comfort of the church campus and gather at a restaurant in the neighborhood to build community with those who are out in the world.

This past Wednesday we left campus to serve together. Those who were able and willing went to the Julie Valentine Center, an organization that serves so many in our community who have suffered the trauma of abuse. For an hour and a half we worked as quickly as we could to help sort and reorganize the clothes that are given to those they serve. We learned that the Julie Valentine Center maintains a locker at each of the emergency rooms in our county. It is stocked with clothes and supplies that might be needed by someone who has to surrender their clothes to the authorities for investigative purposes when they come to the ER to report and be treated for an incident of abuse. Not only does the Julie Valentine Center send counselors and support people whenever they are needed in these situations, they also ensure that the person who has been harmed does not have to leave the hospital in the scratchy paper gowns and scrubs the hospital provides. They can leave slightly more comfortable, and with more dignity.

I was so proud to be working alongside the members of our congregation in this way. Some of us sorted clothes. Some of us ran plastic tubs from the warehouse to the boardroom where the sorting was taking place. Some of us used incredible organizational skill to devise a system that will make accessing the needed clothing items much simpler and faster. It was wonderful to see everything beautifully organized and in its assigned place. It was even more wonderful to see the way people of all ages and different skill sets came together to support an organization that does incredibly important work.

We may never know the people that will be helped by those items of clothing. We may never come across the workers and volunteers who will need to go through those clothes to find something for a client in need. We may never get to see the smile on the face of the mother who graduates from one of the center’s support programs, who is able to find a toy, or a sweatshirt, or a pair of shoes that will be exactly what their children need. We will know that on one Wednesday night we put in a little time and gave a little sweat as an offering to God to make life a little better for those who need it, and because of it we were used as part of the God-movement at work in the world.

On Wednesday, January 20, we will benefit from hearing from Carrie Nettles, one of the chaplains who does amazing and difficult work through the Julie Valentine Center. That night she will offer our FaithTalk, and help us understand how we can find ways to bless all children impacted by our ministries with a story of love, encouragement, and support that counteracts any other negative story the world might try to give them. During the interview portion of the night, I will be able to ask her about the people who have impacted her and shaped her story. It is a question I want to ask all of our presenters, because I think we often take for granted just how much we are lifted up and shaped by the positive influence of others. Sometimes their influence is so great that we can’t deny it. Other times it can be the smallest word, gesture, or act of love that impacts us in ways we don’t even realize. Sometimes it will be an act we never even see.

The older I get the more I realize that I am standing on the shoulders of those who supported and shaped me. Many of them I can name. All along the way there have also been countless other people who, perhaps without either of us knowing it, have left an indelible mark on my life. I may never remember the specifics. If I do, I may never have the opportunity to thank them. I can never forget they are there. God has used them to be part of my story, and so they are part of me.

I also cannot forget that I have that ability to impact someone else every day. We all do. In fact, it is part of what God calls us to do as Christ-followers. Each day is packed with moments, interactions with people, in which we can impact lives with the love of Christ. We can offer a word of kindness and encouragement. We can find a way to make someone smile. We can help someone if they have a need we can meet. We can be the presence of Christ for them. We may not even realize we are doing it at the time, but we can walk through each day open and willing to allow God to use us as a conduit through which grace can be revealed.

Just a couple of weeks ago my younger brother started a new job teaching language arts to seventh graders. It is a job that many of us would never survive, but it is one he is uniquely suited for and that he has worked extremely hard to get. I couldn’t be prouder of him. The really fascinating aspect of this entire situation is that he has started teaching at the same school from which my mother retired from teaching just a few years ago. It is the same middle school (although in a different location) that he, my sister, and I all attended when we were younger as well.

I can’t get over what a perfect image that is for the way God calls us to impact the lives of others. My brother is a second-generation teacher at that school. He was molded by the lessons and traditions instilled in him by his teachers, mentors, counselors, coaches, custodians, and so many more. Now he has the chance to mold a new generation of leaders. Someday, many years down the road, his students may have forgotten the lessons he taught them. Many may have even forgotten his name, but because I know him I can say with certainty that their lives will be made better because they sat in his class. They too will have the chance to join the cycle of impact just like he did.

You don’t have to be a teacher, or a minister, or a chaplain, or a counselor, or a parent, or a coach to be an impactful person in this world. You simply need to remind yourself that you are a follower of Jesus Christ, and as his follower you are called to impact this world for good. Allow yourself to be opened used to keep the God-movement progressing.

I challenge you to take some time this week to think about and give thanks for the people who have impacted your life. Don’t forget the ones whose names you might not even know. As you do, say a prayer asking God to use you to have a positive impact on someone else, whether they know it or not. It could just make the world around us look a little bit more like heaven if you do.