Sick Day

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Sick Day

I’ve been sick and off work recently and one of the most frustrating parts about it is seeing all I could be getting done, having time to do it, but not having the ability. I simply do not have the strength.

It fosters an anxiety that I’m falling further and further behind to a point where I will be eventually left.

You know what this is also true for?

Poverty.

Because poverty is a disease. It’s a disease that’s commonly accompanied with other co-morbidities such as depression, anxiety, hypertension and substance abuse.

The very definition of co-morbidities indicate that these accompanying conditions worsen and make it harder to manage the primary condition: poverty.

So, I try to keep that in mind before assuming people are in a particular situation because they lack initiative or because “they’re not doing anything”.

Like me, I’m sure they’d be happy to do the things that they readily see and already know to do to improve their situation, but struggle to do because of the disease.

And before someone compares the poverty in some random place like Slovenia to the poverty here in America, and how their poor people behave, don’t perpetrate the same level of crime, blah, blah, blah, let me add that hunger in a place stricken by indiscriminate famine is vastly different from hunger in a place where food is abundant but not equally accessible. Hunger hits differently when someone’s eating in your face.

I believe a critical step in the right direction is to stop judging and demonizing people in poverty. That only makes the condition more debilitating.

I believe the extra mile toward healing is helping the sick with what they’re trying to do but just lack the strength to do.

I can speak to its effectiveness because it’s what someone did for me to help me heal.

52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #1 – A Son’s Heart

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #1 – A Son's Heart

In Week 1 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for a Son’s Heart.

Someone was in need, having lost their home’s much used washer and dryer in the same day.

They were hours away, a new washer and dryer set would have to be picked up, the old ones would have to be removed and the new installed. It would be a challenging job for just one person.

As my wife and I were working through how to help, my son Chris volunteers, “Dad, I’ll go.”

He gives up an entire Saturday that are typically cherished and fiercely protected by college students to help someone else.

I can scarcely think of a moment where I was more proud.

My prayer and greatest hope is that I could ever make God feel the way my son made me feel that day.

I’m proud of you, Chris.

I love you.

I’m grateful.

#52WoG

Helping vs Helping At People

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Helping Versus Helping At People

Something we Christians do a lot, is we “help at” people which is not the same as helping people.

We give food baskets to the blind man and buy glasses for the lame, when that’s not their primary issue.

We want to do what we want to do, just to say we’ve done something rather than what they need done.

Jesus is Immanuel, “God with us”.

To help someone, we have to start with where they are and what they’re doing. We have to be with them. We have to expose ourselves long enough to SEE THEM, to see who they’d be, what they’d have and what they could do if the kingdom were to come to their life.

Then, we could come alongside them to help them walk in that reality.

We help people by first elevating our view, elevating their view and then elevating their circumstances to match that as it is in heaven.

We should be satisfied with nothing less.

That’s help.

#help #service #ministry

Honoring Lavontraon “Trey” Smith

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com Honoring Lavontraon Trey Smith #DueHonor

I don’t know what the deal was but I was in Popeyes in Starkville on a Tuesday and the line was wrapped around the door.

So, I couldn’t help but notice this young man named Trey who served each and every last guest with patience & a smile.

They were hopping and Trey rolled with it. This guy is a diamond under pressure.

Hat tip. I thought someone should know. #duehonor

Originally posted by Paul Luckett to Facebook here.

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Serving Effectively Through Rejection

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com Working Effectively Through Rejection

The area is devastated. You’re distributing life saving supplies as a volunteer of a charitable organization. During your deployment, you encounter people who don’t want help.
 
To be offended or to get angry with those who reject the help would suggest you’ve forgotten whose supplies they are and why you’re there in the first place.
 
The more appropriate and effective reaction would be to bear in mind that the resources are not ours and the work is not about us, it’s about saving lives.
 
Consider Jesus’ response when a village rejects Him and His disciples, being offended asked, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” The scripture says, “But He turned and rebuked them, and said, ‘You do not know what manner of spirit you are. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.’ And they went to another village.” Luke 9:53-56
 
All of our service must flow from Love. We are serving because we were sent out of care for those we serve. If people’s well-being were our ultimate concern as it is for the One who sent us, we’d interact with people in such as way that even if they did reject our ministry, they’d be clear about where they can find help should they ever want it.
 
To be clear, help is not our little group or a church building, help is in Christ alone. We can work through opposition and rejection with patience and lovingkindness by remembering who’s work it is in the first place and sharing His heart.