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LAC Families -

Love!! What that means in different moments is really important. It is what God has commanded of us. It is what is expected from Christians by the rest of the world, and rightly so. Love is powerful and important and the only thing that you control about love is what you give, not what you receive. Our family has been grateful for the people that have loved us individually and as a family. Even more I have been so grateful for the people who have loved our daughter with the same intention and care that we have. Grateful because the only thing we control is the love we give, not the love we receive. That is why it continues to be imperative for God and Lake Ave Church that we get better at loving those around us.

Part of the difficulty of loving people well is that we do it through our own experience. We tend to love in ways that are comfortable for us and make us feel good about ourselves. Yet, what God calls us to in the example of Jesus is an imaginative sacrificial type of love that moves and motivates individuals and communities. Your family has the same ability to really express to people around you that you love them. Loving someone over time causes someone to know their worth^[1]. Love can be a one-time event, but that’s rarer than you think. I want to encourage you to take an opportunity as a family or as individuals to pray and ask the Lord whom you should love. By that I mean, how can you dive deep and love someone intentionally over time. How is God creating empathy (an ability to see someone and understand their pain) for this person or family? How is God creating compassion (a response to empathy and a plan to help) for this person or family? I wonder what will happen for the people you choose to love if you take this on over a period of 6 moths, a year, even 4 years.

The Family Ministries team wants to make sure that your kids and teens know that they are loved. We have created events and opportunities for them to engage with the church and be seen. We want to make sure that they know that we see them. In the coming weeks we are planning on making phone calls (remember those?) to every kid and teen on our attendance lists. These COVID times have been tough and we just want them to hear a friendly voice. It is one way that we are trying to love your kids over time. We will be using contact information that we have for your family so we might be calling a parent’s personal phone. Look out for the calls and help our staff connect with your kids.

Below is a list of things that you can do that may help spark your interest.

Enjoy getting creative!!!

Chuck Hunt
Associate Pastor of Family Ministries

^[1] https://reverendrachel.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/playing-for-keeps-six-things-every-kid-needs/

Here are a few ways that you can love others right now:

1. Smile and respond positively to everyone you come in contact with.
2. Offer to help a neighbor with their yard work.
3. As a family, pray for the same person/family every night for a month
4. Befriend someone who you know has few friends.
5. Anonymously leave a bag of groceries on someone’s front step with a thoughtful note.
6. Start every morning with a prayer asking God for ideas in which to care for someone you can impact that day.
7. Have a conversation with a homeless person. If you want to feed him lunch, great – but that’s not the goal. The goal is to learn his story and truly listen to them.
8. Write a letter of appreciation to someone for something that they did for you.
9. Deliberately compliment each one of your family members every single day.
10. When someone you know is going through something challenging, simply tell them that you are praying for them and ask if they would like to pray right then and there.
11. Give a thoughtful gift (i.e. music, knit a scarf or blanket, etc.) for someone who needs it.
12. Offer free babysitting for a young couple to enjoy a date night.