So When's the Next College Group?

Our next meeting as a whole group is June 17th, at my house (1512 E Roosevelt Rd), 6:30pm-8pm. Bring your Bibles and a notebook, as we'll be studying the book of Revelation together.

We are also still serving at the Lydia House and at Precious Life Shelter on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, like we have been for the last year.

**Remember: We have our camping trip coming up in about a month - make sure you clear your calendars so you can join us as we head up to Kings Canyon, a beautiful and rugged area in the Sierras. It's June 25th-27th. I'll probably do signups via facebook or something like that.

Samaritan House, May 18th

I smelled:

• Turkey
• Mashed potatoes
• Bread

I saw:

• Rows and rows of men eating dinner
• Three children
• A man that I’ve seen many times since the time we started serving there. He used to have a beard. He doesn’t anymore. I think the way he chews his food is funny.
• A few people we’ve never served with before
• The windows in the kitchen are these cubes with a wavy kind of texture. When you try to see out of them it looks like you’re looking out at a hundred tiny beach scenes. It’s weird.
• White rice
• Canned cranberries
• Green beans

I felt:

• For a while it seemed pretty warm in the kitchen, beyond the point of being comfortable.
• Sticky jelly from the lunches we were putting together
• Steam coming up from the trays we were serving food from
• Ice in my hands

I heard:

• Ladles clinking against plates
• Plates clinking against each other
• Plates being put on the metal surface where they’re picked up and brought to tables
• Orders to stop dishing up food from one man. Another man saying, “No, we just gotta keep going, we just gotta keep going.”

Lunch with Scotty

I had lunch with a guy named Scott Jones today. Some of you may know him. He is a man who has dedicated his life to serving and loving the city of Long Beach. He doesn't do this by serving at homeless shelters, or giving his money away to charities. He does it by creating a non-profit organization whose goal is to cultivate relationships with all of the different people and neighborhoods of Long Beach by throwing giant barbecues and breakfasts and other events all over the city, bringing people together into loving communities. He does this by greeting everyone he sees with a smile and an honest "How are you doing?" He does this by moving from Belmont Shore to downtown Long Beach in order to build loving relationships with his neighbors and to open up his home to anyone who needs a friend, a meal, a refuge, or just a good time. He does this by simply caring for the people around him, asking himself what they need, and doing what he can to provide it. He does it by meeting his mailman and offering him a cold drink on a hot day. It's not complicated.

I don't know what I mean for you to get out of that, but I know that if I want to show God's love, and have it change this city in crazy ways, I'm not going to do that from behind a glass counter. Scott certainly isn't.


www.welovelb.org.