My husband and I attended a new church recently and I found the message delivered by this young pastor really spoke to my heart. He described how on a recent group mission trip to Detroit the group passed a homeless man on the street while traveling to their destination. They didn’t stop and that weighed on them all. It was like they had blinders on. The next day they made sure they had food in the van to give out if they passed needy people again. His question was – Do we go through life with blinders on and only focus on our own agenda?

Thinking about what he said, I had to question myself. How many times do I pass people who could use some help, but don’t see them? Maybe I do see them and ignore them. Maybe stopping would change a life.

I am not saying that we shouldn’t be safe. Safety is an issue. But the Bible is pretty clear about helping the hungry and the needy. Someone in one of my Bible studies said give them the money and let God take it from there.

Maybe it is not a question of passing someone on the street. I began thinking about opportunities I have to help people and I don’t.

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Maybe stopping would change a life.

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Retirement does leave time to do the things I love. Even though I already volunteer during the week, I decided to be open to anything different. It didn’t take long to find a need.

A dear widowed friend was telling me about how the person who was supposed to paint his house didn’t show up. Before he can sell it, the painting needs to be done and it was very upsetting. Since it is already almost the end of October, time is getting short. Although I don’t paint (I wear too much of it), my husband does. We decided to help out. I packed pictures and my husband painted. Boy, was it appreciated and really helped out.

As Christians we are called to serve others. Sometimes we see a need and don’t help because of the inconvenience. What if our friends did that to us?

My cancer wasn’t convenient for me or my working friends, but they were there for me. I didn’t need to ask.

What if more people took time during their hectic lives to reach out to those in need. I don’t mean just at shelters or agencies. If you’ve never volunteered, that might be a good place to begin.

It might be as simple as visiting that widow down the street. Do you know how alone she feels? Or how about raking her leaves? Simple enough. Could be just sit and have a cup of coffee. What would that take?

Making an effort to do one thing a month would be a great start. How about it? The world could should use it.