"A Cup of Cold Water"

And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.

Matthew 10:42

For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.

Matthew 25:35-36

Last year our family moved from an apartment to a house. There are many differences between apartments and houses that are very obvious. However, many differences exist that you wouldn’t find to be quite so obvious. One example in particular is the amount of contact you have with people passing by your home. In an apartment, the doorman always talks to the people passing by. If people come to the front gate of our house, we are ones who speak to them.

Sometime late last year we met a young woman named Diane. She came to our door one day asking if we could spare some change for bus tokens. We don’t typically give out money and rarely do we have bus tokens. However, there is a member of our church family who tithes a bag of bus tokens each month. This member had given us a bag of tokens to hand out to folks who needed them. So, on this day we were able to help Diane with some tokens.

Time and again Diane would return to our door asking for tokens. Through this need we began to grow a relationship with her. Jennifer especially felt called to minister to this young woman. Jennifer would visit with Diane when she would come to our door. Over time we started to learn who Diane is and what kind of life she has.

Diane is 25 years old and is the mother of 5 children. Her three oldest are from a previous relationship (their father is deceased) and her two youngest are from her current husband. Her children range in age from 7 years to 4 months.

She lives in a shanty town not to far from our home. Living conditions have been really difficult for them, but most recently they have been able to do some standard renovations that will allow them to have some small comforts that most of us take for granted (warm showers and electricity).

It isn’t unusual for Diane to come to our house once or twice a week asking for bus tokens or food. We visit with her and usually help her with her need. On occasion she comes to our home upset by something that is going on with her children. A few months ago she came to our door in tears because Camilla, her 3 year old, swallowed rat poison and almost died. Several weeks ago she came telling us that her first husband’s mother, who had been caring for the 3 oldest children, passed away unexpectedly. Last month she told us that child protective services had come to her house to take away her children because of the living conditions. Last week she came to our door every day! One of those days she came to tell us that one of her 5-year old twins, Stefanie, has leukemia. Unbelievable!

Sadly, the world has influenced us at times to want to not believe this poor woman. In a world of dishonesty it is easy for one to become cynical toward people with needs like Diane’s. There are times when we are so tired of the situations and stories that we don’t want to listen. I confess that I have wanted to ignore the door bell of various occasions. But, I can’t do that. If I am to call myself a follower of Jesus I need to listen to Diane each time she comes knocking on my door. I need to show her grace and mercy. Maybe she has lied to us. So what!? She still deserves to know Jesus’ love for her. She still deserves to have someone to listen to her troubles. She still deserves that “cup of cold water”.

I ask you to be in prayer for Diane and her family. I believe that she wants to be the best wife and mommy she can be and is really having a difficult time. Please pray for her children; for their safety and health. Please pray for them to be blessed by a relationship with Jesus Christ…

and please pray for our family to be a family of mercy and compassion so that we may be ready to minister to the hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick and imprisoned of this world.