I see from my house by the side of the road

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

I see from my house by the side of the road
By the side of the highway of life,
Those who press with the ardors of hope,
and others who faint with the strife.
But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears—
Both parts of an infinite plan.
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be the friend I can.
Sam Walter Foss

We have finished the remodel of our YMCA. My office is right next to the welcome center, people call my office the fish bowl. My office has a lot of windows in it. As I sit in my office, next to the welcome center of our YMCA, I have the opportunity to watch as our members go by; young adults, young families, kids of all ages, elderly people, people with canes, crutches, wheelchairs. Many of them wave to me as the go by, a quick hello. It is easy to see the physical attributes of the people that walk by, it is much harder to see their emotional attributes; for this, I must look harder. I can see the ones where the day has not gone as planned. I can see the ones that are having a difficult time. I can see the ones that are putting a smile on a face that would rather cry.

As I sit in my office next to the welcome center, I can see those who press with the ardors of hope. I see the others who faint with the strife. My door is open, a welcoming gesture; one that many people take advantage of. They come in, tell me their woes, share their troubles, share their grief. But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears, as I sit in my office next to the welcome center in our YMCA. I trust that God has an infinite plan. I trust that God has a plan for me, a plan for them.

Many times, I sit in front of my office next the welcome center in our YMCA. It is not good enough to just sit in my office and wait. I must go be amongst, amongst those that are hurting, amongst those that grieve.

Let me live in a house by the side of the road, and be the friend I can.

It really isn’t my office anyway, it is God’s office, He just lets me sit in it.
Being a chaplain is the most rewarding, painful, sometimes sad thing to be. I am humbled that I get to travel through life with people as they do the best they can to live it.

My prayer is that while I sit in my house by the side of the road, and be the friend that I can, I show people a bit of Christ along their journey.

Blessings,