yellow folder
There is this boy around Syd's age who stands at one of the entrances of our Plum Creek neighborhood every weekday morning. He stands alone on the sidewalk; always wearing khakis, a white polo and carrying a simple yellow folder. He stares at the road.
At first, I thought he might possibly be a Jehovah's witness. I mean, who only takes one small yellow folder to school? My kids can't even pick up their own backpacks, they are so heavy with books.
But I don't see him canvassing the streets. No, he's definitely waiting for a ride.
Every day we drive by. Every day the boys say, "There is yellow folder boy." Then I pray for him. "God bless yellow folder boy today, wherever he may be going."
He always looks so serious. I wonder about him. I pray for him. After a few weeks, we decided we would call him by a name. You may be thinking, why not just stop and talk to him?But it's not ever that simple. Boys are told not to talk to strangers. And he stands far enough away where I would have to yell. And me yelling is usually equivalent to someone else speaking quietly.
So we call him Nathaniel. Sometimes I want to sing Yellow Ledbetter when I see him. What does Yellow Ledbetter even mean? Does Eddie Vedder even know? Or did he just like the way Ledbetter sounds with Vedder?
I have been praying for Eddie Vedder for soooooo long to come to Jesus. At least it feels that way. In reality, it's only been ...hmmm....about 5 years. I hope this isn't going to be one of those stories that has him coming to Jesus the day I die. So be it, if that's the way God wants to play it. I just pray he does come to Jesus.
Yellow Ledbetter, Yellow Folder, I'm praying for you both. And now, Yellow Folder has starting wearing a Red Jacket. I'm celebrating that he has more clothes than just a white polo and khaki pants. Maybe someday we'll see him at the park, or the pool, and the boys will become friends. He looks like he needs a friend.
I was thinking about prayer today, as we were discussing in our vision group for prayer at the Stone on the "whys" and "hows" of prayer. The more I pray with people, the more I find most just want a friend. They want someone who cares. Someone who will be their friend like Jesus is their friend. It always humbles me when they want me to be one of those people.
We can teach on prayer. We can have equipping classes, we can disseminate prayer through all our Make Disciple programs. It's all needed. But what changes lives is praying and living like Jesus did. Being friends to people who need friends. That's pretty much the world.
Last night at the AHOP fundraiser, Thomas Cogdell, the founder of AHOP, spoke a little bit about prayer. He shared that Jesus said to devote yourselves to prayer. Jesus used the same word for devote in that scripture as he does when he asked the disciples to tether the boat to the shore when He was preaching to a crowd. He wanted the boat to be available if he needed it. Tether yourselves to prayer. Make yourself available through prayer.
I just want Him to use me. I just want grace and mercy to mark my life like it did the Lord's. I want to care like He does about people.
At first, I thought he might possibly be a Jehovah's witness. I mean, who only takes one small yellow folder to school? My kids can't even pick up their own backpacks, they are so heavy with books.
But I don't see him canvassing the streets. No, he's definitely waiting for a ride.
Every day we drive by. Every day the boys say, "There is yellow folder boy." Then I pray for him. "God bless yellow folder boy today, wherever he may be going."
He always looks so serious. I wonder about him. I pray for him. After a few weeks, we decided we would call him by a name. You may be thinking, why not just stop and talk to him?But it's not ever that simple. Boys are told not to talk to strangers. And he stands far enough away where I would have to yell. And me yelling is usually equivalent to someone else speaking quietly.
So we call him Nathaniel. Sometimes I want to sing Yellow Ledbetter when I see him. What does Yellow Ledbetter even mean? Does Eddie Vedder even know? Or did he just like the way Ledbetter sounds with Vedder?
I have been praying for Eddie Vedder for soooooo long to come to Jesus. At least it feels that way. In reality, it's only been ...hmmm....about 5 years. I hope this isn't going to be one of those stories that has him coming to Jesus the day I die. So be it, if that's the way God wants to play it. I just pray he does come to Jesus.
Yellow Ledbetter, Yellow Folder, I'm praying for you both. And now, Yellow Folder has starting wearing a Red Jacket. I'm celebrating that he has more clothes than just a white polo and khaki pants. Maybe someday we'll see him at the park, or the pool, and the boys will become friends. He looks like he needs a friend.
I was thinking about prayer today, as we were discussing in our vision group for prayer at the Stone on the "whys" and "hows" of prayer. The more I pray with people, the more I find most just want a friend. They want someone who cares. Someone who will be their friend like Jesus is their friend. It always humbles me when they want me to be one of those people.
We can teach on prayer. We can have equipping classes, we can disseminate prayer through all our Make Disciple programs. It's all needed. But what changes lives is praying and living like Jesus did. Being friends to people who need friends. That's pretty much the world.
Last night at the AHOP fundraiser, Thomas Cogdell, the founder of AHOP, spoke a little bit about prayer. He shared that Jesus said to devote yourselves to prayer. Jesus used the same word for devote in that scripture as he does when he asked the disciples to tether the boat to the shore when He was preaching to a crowd. He wanted the boat to be available if he needed it. Tether yourselves to prayer. Make yourself available through prayer.
I just want Him to use me. I just want grace and mercy to mark my life like it did the Lord's. I want to care like He does about people.