Presence
At the last church I served, there was some very dear friends of my wife and I that had a house fire. They lost almost everything they had. They were very involved members and in the community, and as I was there that night as the fire was being put out, many people came to offer support or help or whatever they needed. Those people meant it, but the next morning as he returned to his house to survey damage, I was the only one there to help him sift out of the wreckage. I learned a valuable lesson, namely that many people say they will help, and they mean it sincerely, but no one asks for help. This man was not going to ask anyone to follow him around and take notes as he dealt with insurance. Nor would he ask anyone to sift through water and soot and ash and other things to look for the gun from his grandpaw. But he needed someone to do that. The people who offered help meant it, and many would and did show up later on when recruited by some other people. I saw thi