Perhaps no one was more surprised than I was when I felt the nudge to answer the call for the Outreach Coordinator for LO. Not because I had any concerns about the ministry itself. I knew it was a top-notch ministry. But, rather I had done office work in the past and broke loose to work for myself and felt content in doing so. Initially, I was nervous about being back in an office setting. I wondered why God would call me back there. Yet, there was peace in knowing that He had a plan for me if I would just trust and obey.
In my early days, here at LO, I can tell you that I have found people driven by their desire to love greatly. That love shines brightly in a sea of differences; different personalities, different church families, different gifts and talents and ideas. Challenging me to love better.
Each work day is greeted with a staff prayer time. An invitation to lay our own selves down, and pick up the challenge of Ephesians 5:2 And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
It is rare to find a place where differences are celebrated, the variation in gifts are understood and honored. Each day is a new opportunity to love perhaps better than the day before. Nestled inside that love, one finds the devotion that governs the levels in which they set the standards of care they provide for the center, for each other, for the churches and communities they serve. It’s for the clients they know and the ones they have yet to meet. Ultimately, it’s for the God we all serve.
It’s funny, isn’t it? That when we submit our gifts to God to be used for Him, He graciously gives them back 100-fold? Isn’t that just like God?
~Rene Groom, Outreach Coordinator