And then, sometimes it seems that life is really quite OK. Things kinda fall into place. The things that matter to you also matter to other people, and together you can git er done.
Like CARTS.
CARTS Victoria is a local street outreach that I have been a part of for about 4 years. It’s been around for over 7. CARTS stands for Christian Actions Reflecting The Spirit. And it also stands for the green four-wheeled wagons that we pull around the streets of Victoria once a week bringing food, clothes, and love to our street family.
CARTS was started by two wonderful ladies. Sisters. As one person put it, ‘They aren’t nuns, but they are saints.’ For over 7 years most of what CARTS is has operated out of their home, their garage, a shed in their back yard, their kitchen, their car, their time, their energy. You get the picture. Sure, others of us help, but it was still them doing most of the work.
A few weeks ago we heard from the company that operates the downtown parking lot where we gathered every week (before heading out on the streets) that we were no longer welcome in their lot. They had their reasons, and that is fine, but it nudged us to a place where we had several decisions to make.
Today we had a meeting of many of our volunteers (about 25 or so). We needed, among other things, to relieve the load that these 2 dear ladies had carried for these 7+ years.
And together, we figured out a new scenario that looks like it is going to work well for everyone.
The two ladies still will have an opportunity for their passion and compassion to reach out to the streets, but more of us will share the load.
I knew we could figure it out, but I didn’t know if we had the people power to take up the slack. I really didn’t know if we would still be CARTS, or if things would need to be scaled back so much that we would kinda fizzle.
But, we were of a mind to git er done! New ideas, sorting out of who we really are, and a willingness to take responsibility.
We still have more decisions to be made, but we made some great strides today.
Sometimes life sucks.
But not today.
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5 comments:
Sometimes life DOES suck. Kudos to you, bro, for keeping hope and doing the hard work. Props Al.
the one evening i spent volunteering at CARTS was such a phenomenal experience Al. i came out of there feeling very grounded in my faith and looking for more opportunities to help people who needed that. thank you very much for that chance to do that.
it pleases me greatly that such an important mission will continue. blessings to you and everyone working alongside you there.
I'm excited...when I walked into Charon and Kathy's backyard Sunday...it was the beauty of Jesus. His hands, his feet, his voice of love compassion, hospitality, love and grace. It was all there present in community. It really is about community the inner city touching us, and us touching them. We need each other. May Jesus continue to shape us with his redemptive imagination as we re-shape.
your blessed to be part of such a ministry!
Interestingly enough, in some ways things are a little sucky with CARTS right now.
As we proceed with re-establishing ourselves, we are facing some bigger decisions than we first anticipated, so things are taking longer to get back in business. But we shall succeed!
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