What does love look like?
It’s difficult to know where to start with this one. Maybe it’s enough to say that there were two conditions that existed in close proximity to each other…
(1) A family with a need.
(2) Lots of people in a church who want to love extravagantly because they were first Loved Extravagantly.
It started with one family becoming aware of another family’s need. When they agreed that it was time to try a ‘love blitz’, they spread the word over Facebook that we were all going to gather to bless the family in need.
Within 24 hours, the church (the people, not the organization) responded with donations of food, diapers, household supplies, cash, and gift cards.
Most of the people didn’t even know the family that they would be donating to.
As the people gathered everyone was given directions to where we were going and strict instructions on what to do…
Greet the family by letting them know that we just want to bless them.
Leave the food and money.
We’re in and out quickly.
Confused about what was happening, the family being love-blitzed quickly felt the Love that they were suddenly being showered with.
The team wasn’t planning on going inside, but the family invited the 30 (or so) people in. So we prayed with them for a moment, and blessed their home.
Then each person hugged and/or shook hands with the family on their way out of the house, often sharing a quick, personal blessing.
I spoke with the family for a little while afterwards. They told me that they’ve never felt the Love of God so much before.
Love looks like something, and today it looks like a turkey in the freezer, cans of soup in the pantry, diapers, paper towels, soap, and a box of Zatarains.
Earlier that day this family was saving the crumbs in the bottom of a bag of potato chips because they weren’t sure when they’d be able to buy more.
Now they have to rearrange their pantry and food storage because there wasn’t enough room for all of the food that was delivered.
And of course there was also the money. The generous cash gifts would help meet other immediate needs.
But of all of the cash and gift cards that were received, the most special was probably the two dollars taped inside a handmade card made by an excited seven year-old boy donated from his very own allowance.
It’s hard to tell who got more out of this…
Those who recieved.
Or those who gave.
But it’s certainly telling when the family who received expressed that they want to do the same thing for someone else next time the church does this.
What does love look like? Let’s ask this one…
Love does look like something, this was beyond anything we could ever describe. The feeling inside was almost uncontainable. Its one thing to say God loves you but you cant see God, so to be on the blessing end of this “Love Blitz” was almost like seeing Him face to face.. To see an outward expression of Gods love by people that dont know a thing about you is something that will always be forever imbedded in our hearts.. We can still feel it!!
Oh and Dan you forgot to take the picture of the chocolate hand prints on the bedroom door.. priceless I amost dont want to wash them off…
GOD IS SOOO GOOD!!
It’s exciting to see God work through people like this! I don’t think that I’ve ever seen such an incredible display of the extravagant Love of Christ! And it was REALLY cool to be a part of it!
I’ll never forget the look on your face when it was all happening, and you still had no clue what was happening to you. PRICELESS!!!
Hey Dan! Thanks for posting this. Sometimes (a lot really) we need to be reminded of how simple it really is to show God’s love to those around us. I think we make it more difficult and more complicated than it really is sometimes. Thanks for sharing and God bless.
The beauty of a project like this one is the simplicity. Showing Christ’s extravagant Love doesn’t mean that we have to make it complicated.
Lord help us to get out of the way, and let you just do Your thing through us!
Having had the pleasure to participate and hear the story first hand was such an amazing experience. Even still to read this story (that has been told so well) still gives me tears in my eyes. The recipients said, “I don’t feel worthy”. The reality is that none of us are “worthy”, and that’s what’s makes God’s love so extravagant! God’s love is unconditional and undeserving, but He still loves, and calls us all to love like He does.
I looked up Extravagant at dictionary.com and this is how it is defined:
It says it’s an adjective, but we turned it into a verb!
1. spending much more than is necessary or wise; wasteful
2. excessively high: extravagant expenses; extravagant prices.
3. exceeding the bounds of reason, as actions, demands, opinions, or passions.
4. going beyond what is deserved or justifiable: extravagant praise.
The definition of ‘extravagant’ is awesome! And it perfectly describes the love that Christ has for us, and that we are to pour out on other people. LOVE it!
i will say i have never experienced love like this..for people who dont know us, did this for us. thats what Jesus did i guess, love one another, not judge, look at weird, think they are better than , no, just love. i have seen what love looks like. God just blows me away, day after day. when you feel like you dont deserve anything, worthy of anything God blows you away..God please bless your people who obeyed you, 100 fold!! AMEN!!! i love you guys, everyone of you..
It’s awesome to see how huge the #loveblitz was to the one who received it! Feeling like you don’t deserve it is exactly what makes it so beautiful… because it models exactly what Christ did for us by sacrificing of Himself even when we don’t deserve it!
AMEN!!!
I love this!!!!!
You’ll probably be excited to know that I just bought the domain loveblitz.org, and you’ll be seeing lots more of this kind of stuff there from me and anyone else who wants to do it in their own communities!
it was so heartwarming you could feel the spirit of god flowing through everyone there i love giving to people in need god blessed all of us plus the wondeful family that received a blessing let do it it again harvest is the greatest caring loving church in the whole world love them all jim
You really could sense the Spirit of God in this #loveblitz! I remember seeing tears on the faces of the givers just as much as the receivers! I am also blown away by the love of the people at Harvest Tabernacle who turned out for this… even though most did not even know the family who received!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing Jim! You rock!
Awesome display of Love. This is the kind of acts that the Church should be known for. Showing extravagant love from an overflowing life that is being loved extravagantly!!!
This kind of extravagant Love can change people’s lives. I’ve seen it happen in this family, and now all they want to do is pour it out on others. Pretty cool…
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
I missed this somehow when you first posted. I love how you equate being loved extravagantly with loving extravagantly. Great post, great photos.
1 John 3:16-18 (AMP) “By this we come to know (progressively to recognize, to perceive, to understand) the [essential] love: that He laid down His [own] life for us; and we ought to lay [our] lives down for [those who are our] brothers [in Him]. But if anyone has this world’s goods (resources for sustaining life) and sees his brother and fellow believer in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live and remain in him? Little children, let us not love [merely] in theory or in speech but in deed and in truth (in practice and in sincerity).”
That’s what it’s all about isn’t it? Thanks Cheryl!
awesome! got a little teary eyed there! thanks for encouraging me with this today.
There wasn’t a dry eye there either… by the receiver and the giver alike. It was a special moment, and one that I hope to see MUCH more often!
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
I got tears in my eyes.
SO amazing.
That kind of love really is amazing! I still get choked up thinking about it…
WOW! what a great “recipe!”
Thanks for sharing…
LIB
http://bit.ly/fjHVOH
This is the easiest recipe that I’ve ever worked with! It’s funny how we always over-complicate something that can… just. be. simple.
That might be the most awesome thing EVER!!! I love it! Wow what a blessing. Thank you so much for sharing that. What a great idea too!
There’s something really special about the #loveblitz. I recently bought the domain name, and plan to build some more resources to help and encourage others to do the same kind of thing. I’ll be sharing more about that here soon…
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
Great! Can’t wait! I’ll subscribe to your blog!
This is so touching! Thank you for sharing.
the #loveblitz is a special event that blesses everyone involved… i get goose bumps when i think about doing this again! can’t wait!
Amazing! thanks for sharing Dan. I love the message that we should love extravagantly because we were first Loved Extravagantly. As in the story of the loaves and fishes, once everyone got their fill there were baskets left over. There is more than enough for everyone!
we just put the announcement out last night, and the stuff rolling in to #loveblitz this next family is blowing me away! i’m already getting rocked by this one, and we’re not going over until sunday! this is one of my all time favorite kinds of activities… ever.