Andy at RCCC

Surprises & Lessons

Today was an interesting day... turned out nothing like what I had thought it would be.  Deborah & Philip are moving tomorrow, and so I dropped by around noon to see them off as well as to help with any last-minute cleaning up.  To make a long story short, the moving company underestimated the space needed to pack all their stuff, and they ended up not being able to fit a whole bunch of things into the van.  We spent the afternoon making phone calls and exploring options, in the end soliciting the help of a couple other families to temporarily store the leftover furniture, until I drive up in August to move down  and I can move their things up for them at the same time. 

Though unexpected, it was a good day.  I really enjoyed getting to know the parents that were there, as well as the youth & children milling about.  It was one of those hidden graces of God... where I thought I was just going to say bye and to offer a little help, and yet instead I find that God had much bigger plans for me.  Getting to talk to parents helped me to build relationships with them, and in turn get to know their kids better.  Some of the not-yet-in-youth-group siblings of current students were also there, and between them & their parents, I'm glad I had the chance to start getting to expand my borders to know the people of the church, not just the students in the youth group.  And even just how God had me there during the afternoon to be of assistance- having just moved from Chicago myself and having experience in this area- and being around. 

We went over to Al Chen's home for dinner, and during dinner I had more opportunities to talk and get to know the adults, learning more about their famlies.  The "bonus" blessing was getting to know Aaron, the Chen's youngest son, who is a special needs child, but who is also such an encouragement to me.  Already he has a lot of enthusiasm when he sees me... he's very outgoing & very likeable kid.  At one point in the evening, he wanted to show me a Carman worship CD (side note: if you know something about the history of Christian music in the late 80s/early 90s, you know that Carman is a hilarious character :P).  Anyway, as the first song was playing- Lord I Lift Your Name On High- Aaron was singing along as best he can, and dancing around the room.  It was pretty funny, but also incredibly... insightful.  Here was a person whom the world considers to have "lower mental capacities" and "not normal"... and yet, he listens to a worship song, and I believe worships perhaps more than those of us who have no physical or mental limitations.  I mean, when was the last time, as we were singing to God, that we displayed great enthusiasm, and just wanted to run around the room, arms waving, acting all “silly”, but at the same time be what King David said as being “undignified" as we worship God... where we don't care about what people think when they see us, but unashamedly we worship.  Aaron, being a person without the same inhibitions and social "conditioning" as some of the rest of us, is a great example of that, I think. 

Oh, and I also ended up inheriting some random food items as well as a bookshelf in the process.
In the end, I didn't get any of my "planned" work done... but building these relationships, learning from others, and serving a family... that "work" is the more important work, and the real task of ministry.

posted by Andy Chang @ 10:29 PM