Fireside Chat: In Life Together

In the grocery store, you are rushing around to gather all the items on your list when you see a young mom, one child in her grocery cart and three more holding onto the cart. You notice that the items in her cart are ones you have purchased before when money was tight. You smile and push your cart on by.

On the next aisle, you meet her again and notice that she is looking at the shelves and then back at the sales paper. She reaches out to get the brand on sale, and you slightly grimace as you realize she is on a tight budget doing her best to feed her children. Still, you push past her.

Holy Spirit begins to speak to you to talk with her. Talk amongst yourselves and discuss how the conversation might go and what course of action you might take, if any.

While getting the daily mail, you notice a neighbor with her arm in a sling. You simply greet her. As you arrive at the elevator to go up to your floor, there stands the neighbor. You engage her in conversation, asking about her arm.

Currently she is unemployed, has no insurance, and fears she needs surgery. She is carrying a heavy bag and sounds like she is in pain.

Holy Spirit begins to speak to you to talk with her. Talk amongst yourselves and discuss how the conversation might go and what other courses of action you might pursue.

You have several good friends who are teachers. You have heard them say that nearly a quarter of the children in their classes do not have the proper school supplies. Some of the kids come to school hungry. For some, it is obvious that they haven’t had new clothes in a long time, if ever.

You read in the local newspaper about a town nearby and how one person asked others to purchase extra school supplies and then gave the supplies to a school. The wheels begin to turn. What can your Aglow group do? Sign up or walk away?

While watching the news, you become aware of the increasing homeless population in your community. Winter is coming and with it extremely cold weather. What are some practical steps that your Aglow group can take to help those living on the streets? Gather supplies? Make sandwiches to hand out on certain days? Ignore it?