Rodeo: Ms. Simpson and others

I enjoy meeting new people and seeing the opportunities God provides to use me to impact their lives, the challenge to show them God's love for them. Though I didn't get to do that anywhere near as much as I'd hoped to do for reasons out of my control, the few interactions I did have were a lot of fun.

I recognized the first family I encountered at the start of the day from our daycare ministry. It was neat to see them being impacted by a different aspect of our church. Later, I was also surprised by several people, who after enjoying the rodeo, were interested in seeing what our auditorium looked like. I enjoyed being able to show them the room, empty as it was, and answer some standard questions about what our church is like. But the interaction I probably enjoyed the most of the day was with Ms. Simpson.

Just after the start of the event, I realized that one of the areas for which I was responsible wasn't covered as I'd expected. This led me to make multiple walks back and forth between the 501 W Lincoln property and the rodeo location. On one of those trips, as I greeted the droves of people walking down the drive to the event, I was asked if we had a wheelchair for a lady who needed some assistance. She apparently had sent her friends on to the event while she awaited my return.

After grabbing a chair and getting her situated, with no one else to help her, I had the privilege of wheeling her to the event. Of course, I had my doubts as to whether we'd succeed in taking the wheelchair four-wheeling across the field. Within a few feet of getting off of the private drive and onto the dusty field, she gladly accepted resorting to staying on the periphery with a distant view of the arena. She was simply content to be in the shade. She took me up on my offer to alert the others in her party as to where she was located, so I was off to find the two among the mass of humanity spread across the field. I have no idea how, but I succeeded in finding the others.

As I headed on my next trip back to the church building, on my way out I let her know that I'd found her friends. In the meantime, Josh (the teen who gave his testimony during Sunday's service) was talking with her. Josh and I wanted to make sure she was comfortable. Someone with a Rita's container caught her eye and while she'd had lunch already and wasn't interested in using her free hot dog coupon, a gelati suited her fancy. Without hesitation, both Josh and I reached for our wallets. With Josh agreeing to help her out and my duties calling me elsewhere, I left her in Josh's care for the time being.

Between Josh and myself and hopefully even others I don't know about, I hope Ms. Simpson sensed God's love through us that afternoon. I've got several more posts in the coming days about the rodeo, but in the meantime, who were some of the people you met and what opportunities did you have to share God's love with them?