Block Party

I’ll be honest with you, at about 5:30 yesterday I had a sinking feeling that nobody was going to come to the block party. I had this vision of Donna and I sitting alone at a picnic table on our driveway while our neighbors closed their blinds and pretended they weren’t home. Then the doorbell rang. It was a man in a tuxedo. Wow, I guess we should have mentioned something about dress code on the flyer. Turns out he is a high school orchestra teacher on his way to a concert. He came by to apologize for missing the fun, but he hoped he could make it back by and catch the tail end of things. Okay, maybe this will be party.

By 6:30, we were rocking along. College students, police officers, housewives, school teachers, orchestra teachers (they made it back), a lawyer, a speech pathologist, and the Breakaway staff gathered around a little campfire and a little crock-pot of queso out in the front yard. We told stories. We talked about funny things in the neighborhood. We talked about sports. We introduced our dogs to one another and demonstrated their abilities. We played ping-pong, ate fajitas and lingered. Some of us had deep conversations, others just kept it light and fun. Everyone left saying it was fun though. Several mentioned their desire to do this again. Numbers were exchanged, as were invitations to sports leagues and poker games. It was a great start to what I believe will be legitimate friendships. We’re positioned to be help in times of need. We’re friendly faces when those might be needed. The neighborhood doesn’t feel as isolated. It was a cold night, but I think our neighborhood feels a whole lot warmer.

I hope you had a great experience as well. We’d love to hear about them! Please send us your comments.
If you missed out on the block party experience, no worries, there’s no expiration date. Throw a back-to-school party. Be the person on your block, your hall, your apartment complex that people know as a friend. Or find another way if a block party doesn’t work. But love can’t stay still. It never does. It moves. Sometimes it has to push through some social anxiety (my personal experience). But it’s wonderful when it does. May we be constantly reaching out for the glory of God and the good of all those whom He has created!

Peace,
Ben

Love Sends

Love Sends. What does that mean exactly?

This year at Breakaway we have been talking about how love is active. Love sends text messages when thinking of someone. Love sends money in a time of need. Love sends resources to those without. Love initiates. Love moves. Love sends. Love sends a beloved Son to give His life for others. 1 John declares that God’s love was manifested in this: that He sent His son that we might live through Him. John follows this declaration with another: “If God so loved us, we should love one another.” If God’s love expressed itself in action to benefit another, so should ours. That is what this blog-site is about.

Over the past several weeks we’ve been flooded with two kinds of messages. One type asks questions like: “you’ve been talking about going out and loving people, but how? How do I do it? Where do I go?” The other kind has included stories about how someone you know has been doing what we’ve talked about. Someone stops by to tell us about a friend who helps at a crisis pregnancy center. Another tells us about their inner-city ministry. Another sings the praises of the kids they work with in a Sunday School class.

Last year we organized the Shalom Project to raise money for local ministries. This year we didn’t feel like God was leading us to organize another project, but rather to celebrate what you have been doing in the thousands of little ways that many of you have worked to send the love of God to others. Our hope is that this blog-site will be filled with stories of people who are loving with movement. Whether it's local or international, we want to hear about how students and others are loving people all over this world. Our hope is that this might be a way to stir creativity and spur each other on as we seek to love those around us. So tell your friends, tell your families, and post your stories here! And keep in mind, love sends.

Note: This blog is designed to provide a venue for students to share creative ideas of how to love others. Breakaway Ministries does not endorse any specific organizations mentioned in the following comments.