Abundant Living Vol. X, Issue 1

“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”  – Matthew 25:40 

Do you ever find yourself so deeply disturbed by daily news reports that you wish you had the power to change the world, the ability to make things right?  Consider all the war, violence, hunger, disease, poverty, human trafficking, greed and corruption, drugs, gangs, homelessness, mental illness, and addictions.  Even the leaders of our own great nation with all the resources we have at our disposal seem unable to make things right.  How discouraging it all seems and how helpless we often feel to do anything about it!  Or, are we? 

Turn your attention instead to a lady by the name of Lanell Armstrong, a pretty blond middle-class housewife who convinced her family to abandon their comfortable lifestyle and move into an east Dallas barrio inhabited by gangs, guns, and drugs.  There in the “hood” she has opened her home to provide a safe environment to a bunch of street kids, boys, headed down the path of drug dealing, gangs and violence, which will eventually lead to the inevitable consequences of prison – or worse.  In the comfort and safety of her home, though, these boys get to experience something they’ve never experienced before – love, encouragement, and a healthy family environment. 

Every day Lanell wakes up to the same disturbing news reports you and I do.  The difference is she does not find herself feeling helpless in doing something about it.  No, this mostly unheard of Mother Teresa of east Dallas is out there changing the world, one vulnerable young boy at a time, and being a role model for the rest of us, showing us how in our own way and in our own environments we too have the opportunity to change the world – one human being at a time.  But this is not Lanell’s model, it is God’s model.  God does not zap the world to make it right.  He depends on us to do that – one person at a time.  And nothing pleases Him more than when we do; for as Jesus said, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”  Thankfully, there are a lot of unknown Lanells out there, and I want to be one too, or at least become a better one.  It’s my new year’s resolution.  Care to join me?  Let’s change the world!



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