simply showing up

A good friend of mine preached a sermon last year with the theme 'simply showing up' and I have encountered similar themes since then ("Just Walk Across the Room").

I rarely share on this blog about anything that is super deep or emotional but tonight the Lord called on me to show up in a place that I did not anticipate. At 3 PM, I was bringing Cambria home from preschool when I heard a series of fire trucks and ambulances drive by. Upon arriving home, I saw what appeared like an accident on the street at the bottom of the hill on which I live. Time went by and I heard helicopters outside and then I turned on the news and discovered that a teenage boy had been killed by a dump truck when he was riding on his skateboard right near my home.

I didn't know what to do. I delayed. I started to grill some burgers. And then I sensed the call to GO and be available.

I was scared and I didn't know what to do as I walked down the hill. I remember a close friend at CPE last year say "You need to show up and be the CHAPLAIN in tough times." With those words of encouragement and prayers, I arrived at the scene and talked with one of the EMT members. He said that a chaplain was on site but that there were many others who needed assistance. I stood next to a few families and a woman was hysterically shaking next to me.

I am not going to give any details but the next 2 hours was perhaps the most powerful moments for me as a Christian. I listened to one family (not the family of the teenage boy) in particular as they shared their grief, their loss, their guilt, their struggles, and their sorrow.

After the time, I asked to pray for the husband and he welcomed the prayer. I also was able to share one last time with the rest of the family before they left.

Simply showing up...

I thanked the Lord Jesus Christ for the privilege of being his listening presence and word of comfort and hope in the midst of this tragedy.

Who am I to play that role? Nobody special. Only that I was given the courage to follow the call of the very one who called me to serve that family in the first place.

My prayers are with this boy's family as they grieve the loss of their son.
My prayers are with the driver who accidentally hit the boy.
My prayers are with the family with whom I sat for 2 hours.
My prayers are with all the high school students who will be asking "Why?" tomorrow.
My prayers are with Maple Valley, WA as we mourn the loss of a teenage boy whose life should have continued beyond Sept 10th, 2007.

Please pray for all of us if you have read this blog entry... that is one way that you can show up for everyone mentioned above.