The Allan Years

We're here for you Allan

I received a note the other day with a really different question. An incredibly bright and thinking young man asking me about some happenings in his life that were a tad out of the ordinary. It involved something that I don't personally believe in. I zipped him back a note and asked him to let me think about it and would respond the next day. The Lord led me to acknowledge his feelings but to affirm God. I wrote back to him and received a well written message thanking me with his offering a bit more of his heart.

His note ended with this: P.S. Not sure if you heard, but Allan's grandfather passed away, I believe Monday early morning.

That told me more about this young man than any of the "real" problem he originally wrote to me of. I wrote back to him:

He came by the church yesterday morning and told David about it. David took his hands and prayed with him. You know Allan eats dinner with us every Monday night. We pray before each meal asking God to bless the food for us and Allan will 9 times out of 10 add a little blurb onto the end of David's prayer. It can be anything from thanking God for Jeff Gordon to blessing his family trip to the Braves game (which never seems to actually happen). Yesterday, at the end of David's praying for him, Allan said, "And Jesus take care of my Grandpa." Not once, but twice. Oh my... everybody was crying. Allan didn't quite understand the tears because ... well, he's Allan. But, I love your heart for him. Not everyone has a heart for Allan. All of New Hope does.

So, I'm sitting here early this Wednesday morning, not having even had my coffee yet, crying. Because a heart that God gives us for "the least of these" does that to a person. I stopped and said to David, "Maybe Allan is the reason New Hope is here." Sure, we do a lot of other things (we're the "Do Something" church!), but maybe, just maybe, in the midst of it all God has changed and is changing us all through the love of His Son using Allan to make us see clearly. Maybe these last twelve years have been filled with time God used to nurture our hearts with ears to hear when Allan is rambling on, with patience when he interrupts conversations, with laughter when he tells us stories. Maybe these last twelve years have been filled with time that showed us that there are needs all around us - not only in third world countries but in feeding our own community, volunteering as friends from New Hope at community Relays for Life, or New Hope boys doing yard work for the elderly... and loving the Allans of the world. Maybe the last twelve years have been the Allan Years and we've never even realized it. The young man who wrote the message to me doesn't attend New Hope, nor church anywhere that I'm aware of, but he knew without a doubt that New Hope loves Allan.

That whole thing humbles me. We've lost people because of one reason or another and most times, if it's local loss, it's due to differences of perceived needs. We've lost people due to military or contractor moves (we always miss those people the most). Each time a loss happens God clearly - clearly - sends others our way who have hearts that are amazed at how New Hope loves.

Our goal is to love like Jesus. The Scriptures tell us that, but sometimes we need the physical to help us see it. Maybe, just maybe God sent Allan to New Hope for that reason.

Pray for Allan and his family during their time of the loss of his very beloved grandfather.