Merideth's Feet

One night I was watching a video with the children as part of the weekly children's program activities. I had little Meredith, who is two years old, on my lap, and I was having trouble keeping her attention on the television. Her focus was on her toes, and she kept trying to stick them in her mouth and then clean them while they were still wet. Two or three times, I asked her to please keep her feet down.

Then she scratched her face, which needed to be cleaned, so I took her into the bathroom. As I cleaned her little wound, I mentioned that I had noticed that her feet were bothering her, and asked her if she would like her feet cleaned as well. "Yes," she said, nodding her head. So with her face washed, I sat her down on the ledge and took off her shoes. Using a wet paper towel, I carefully cleaned each toe, and then the rest of her feet. She looked on approvingly, and smiled when I declared that she now had clean feet.

She watched the rest of the video without any further distractions, and gave me a hug as she headed upstairs to join her mother. It was then that I realized what I had done. I had followed Jesus' example; he too had washed the dusty feet of friends. While I try to show compassion, just like Jesus did, as I minister to the women and children of Pacific Lifeline, little did I know how literally I would be following His actions. I had done so without even trying to; it came naturally out of truly caring for Meredith.

That's what ministry is all about. Following Jesus' example of caring for others comes naturally when your heart is already involved. Just as Jesus loved all children, all people for that matter, the children of Pacific Lifeline enter my heart when they enter the building. I am here to show them God's love.