Core Values:: Intentionality

This last week I was in Grocery Outlet buying whipped cream and bacon because yolo. 

While I was walking down the aisle with one eye on my children and one eye on sales prices a man started speaking in my general direction. I say general direction because he was facing a pre-packaged rack of ribs. 

"I've never see ribs this cheap. This is a great deal. This is a GREAT deal."

At the second "great" he turned and locked eyes with me. There was no confusing what was going on. He wanted confirmation that this was an exceptionally great price for ribs and I was his man. 

Now, I want to be the kind of person who can help out a stranger in a time of need. I just taught on the Good Samaritan last week. Nobody had been robbed or beaten, it was just one man looking for agreement over reasonably priced butchered meat. 

I couldn't do it. I mumbled "pretty great" while pretending that my boys were a danger to themselves or others and I ran after them. 

This week when we're going to be having the exceptional Harriet Congdon leading us through our core value of Intentionality. This is stepping into relationships a step beyond what is known or comfortable. While you could make a case that this man wasn't someone in my community that I needed to engage seriously, what I felt when he started talking is common with people much more familiar. 

We're overwhelmed with our own lives and circumstances and taking on anyone else's burden feels impossible. So what do we do in those spaces? How do we balance self-care with other's care? What's the step beyond that God is calling us into with our relationships?