Be a Tree!

So, yesterday, I got to do a really fun project where I took some of our group home kids to camp for a day. Ozark Mission Project, which is a mission camp that takes place in communities across Arkansas, is meeting this week in Magnolia. Some of our kids had the chance to go paint a house, and then helped cook and serve dinner, and wrapped up the night with games and worship! The boys worked hard and had a great time, all while serving others. Our Helena group home girls also got this same opportunity a few weeks ago, and they also did a great job!

At both worship services we attended, the message was about Zacchaeus. (I don’t know about you, but I can’t hear that name without breaking in to song….  “Zacchaeus was a wee little man….”) The week that I took the girls to camp, the speaker talked about how we often try to see ourselves in Bible stories. Like, maybe we are Zacchaeus, trying to reach out and be seen by Christ. Or, maybe we are Jesus, trying to find those in need. However, he also gave us a third option, and it made me think of the work that everyone at MFH does on a daily basis. He gave the option that maybe we could be the tree. The tree, while never speaking, has an integral role in the story of Zacchaeus. The tree is what enabled Zacchaeus to see Jesus. Had that tree never lifted him up, Zacchaeus couldn’t have seen over the crowd, and Christ wouldn’t have seen Zacchaeus perched in the branches.

You and I are trees. We have the great privilege of lifting up those in our care so that they can see Christ. Whether you work in an office, provide direct care, or do something in between, what you do every day is ensuring that the kids in our program are lifted up (if even temporarily) out of some of the junk that they have to face. The hope is that with every meeting, every program, every day, they grow a little more healthy and a little more to the point where they can see Christ, and know and understand that they are also seen by Him.

And, not only can we be the tree for the kids in our care, we can also be a tree for our friends, our family, and even our co-workers. Have you ever seen that funny looking thing where a tree grows out of another tree? We can be trees on top of trees on top of trees---each of us being lifted in order to see Christ, while we lift others to do the same.

My encouragement for us today is that we each find a Zacchaeus—someone who you know needs to feel seen by God—and help them get there. Pray with them. Let them know what you see in them that is special. Make sure they feel loved, and help them to know that Christ is looking for them. Because, as Zacchaeus learned, being called out by name by God himself is indeed a life-altering experience.