Encouragement on a blah week....

Last week was one of those sort of off weeks…you know, the one where you wake up on the wrong side of the bed and you think, “Oh, tomorrow I’ll get out on the right side” and then it never happens. You're just rolling on throughout the week, slightly off but not able to put your finger on it… In the middle of those sorts of weeks I am always really thankful for kind people who seem to be a little bit of encouragement along the way.

One of those groups of people was the folks who gathered for the Communities Creating Opportunity rally held at Union Station which Dave and I attended. We were invited by our friend Will as a part of the Kansas City Urban Youth Center. We and another 998 people came together to hear about ways folks in our cities have been suffering and struggling. I don’t know about you, but sometimes, I just want to go home and read a book or take a bath on a week night. It’s challenging to make myself present to the suffering in our city and our neighborhood but it is so important. We heard about how the state of Missouri allows pay-day loan companies to charge up to 2,000% on a pay day loan and how the average a person pays back on a pay-day loan in the state of Missouri is 450%. What?!

The organization CCO is working to put a cap on pay day loans. What good work and what a worthy cause. Besides the cause, the group of people gathered was breathtakingly beautiful. There were churches from Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS gathered together across the state-line, the mayor was present, school board members, pastors, Catholics, Methodists, illegal immigrants, students, young people and families. It was one of those moments when you realize this is what was intended. This group of people was meant to be together, peacefully, fighting for justice. It was encouragement in a very tangible form.

As if this wasn’t enough, when I arrived I saw my best friend in Kansas City, one of the professors from Saint Paul School of Theology, a student from Saint Paul, young people I have known since they were in elementary who are Student Leaders with the Kansas City Urban Youth Center, a Kansas City board member I campaigned with and lots more friendly faces. Therefore, this was a group of people who had found a way to not just invite the higher-ups, the elites who usually get invited to make change. Instead, all kinds of people were invited and all kinds of people attended. It seems to me our churches should look more like this than they do. How did they do this? They invited people to come and listen/hear about things which really matter and impact folk’s everyday lives: healthcare, debt, places to be, food, etc.

And there is one more person who was an encouragement along the way---Dave. When I came home all I wanted to do was chill and maybe go to bed early. I was less than interested in going to be with a group of people and yet, Dave-who knew I would be sorely disappointed if I didn’t go helped me get there by offering to run on the way there and hitch a ride back. What a guy?! I so appreciate him and his encouragement to me.
It’s in the blah week’s you really need those people/experiences in your life. And I give thanks.