"CLOTHE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF"....Bumper Stickers that WALK

Does your bumper sticker WALK? Can I get a witness? Are you walking out the words you drive? Bumper stickers are written for an audience, and oh that some would be reminded that the world IS watching. YOU know exactly what I mean. Sometimes that audience is of ONE on an early morning drive, or to the lucky guy or girl who is stuck in its presence in the middle of rush hour. Other times, it can be viewed by a multitude in a day's work. When you leave your house as early as I do, you are quite aware that bumper stickers TALK...but the question remains, "Does your bumper sticker WALK?" CLOTHE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF..."I hear you LORD!" I drive a blue R with an open invitation, and as an advocate for Compassion International, I drive another that reads, "Sponsor a Child." Revolution Church is a part of me, just as much as the kids I sponsor living oceans away. That R leaves me open to criticism, accountability, persecution, truth in love etc...and I welcome it FOR THE JOY SET BEFORE ME. It carries with it stories of restoration, many harvests, difficult seasons of planting with little growth visible to the eye, waiting rooms, answered prayers, mission work that can only be described as both wonderful and disturbing, community groups, outreach opportunities, acts of faith, making memories one cup at a time, standing in awe, serving as a spiritual mother to little loves, investing in women of all ages, and serving a Numbers Don't Add Up God. We don't pray small prayers and we make big asks of ourselves and of YOU when you sign on to be a part of what God is doing at Revolution. As for Compassion, I choose to be a voice for the littlest and the least...for theirs is the Kingdom. If you don't see it in my WALK, in how I love, and what I choose to speak about or speak up for... I'm already dead to you. There's no life in me if my light doesn't go for a WALK. "Send Me!" Isaiah 6:8 I've recently committed to walking 7 times daily around the back part of my community no matter morning, day, or night. In sunshine, rain...and dare I say snow? It's biblical, it saves money, reserves space in my gym for others, and it's like a second wind in my day. Right now my heart REQUIRES this walk. No details necessary, but I don't want to come home at night and I've contemplated moving, tearing up before I even arrive...but the Spirit says "Trust Me" when I even speak those words, never allowing me to finish the sentence... so I know in due time He will restore what is broken. Just a REALLY hard storm...and it's still raining. Don't ask me why. I truly don't know why. I'm also preparing to sign one last teaching contract and head off on mission with the World Race..11 different countries, on new soils for 11 months. I pray about dating and adoption, my sister's future in Georgia, the needs of my friends and their families etc. My word to you should carry weight when I tell you I will pray. I'm not gonna lie, when I tell you just how much prayer warriors often stand out, but personally, I prefer my IN to stand OUT. For me it is the IN that stands out in every relationship. Laugh if you want, but Christian's can appear Schizophrenic (hello just read one of my journals...nuff said), at times emotional, not as fools because a fool is God-less, but let's just say it can be like someone turned on a light and those who don't have the eyes to recognize it as such are in the background clapping. Listen carefully and you will hear them. No, not as an act of applause, but like the Clapper I had in college. Yes, I Brooke Renee Leffelman had colorful florescent lights on/above my futon...that would obey my every clap. My roommates can attest to this sad yet comical truth. Christians can be seen with hands raised in surrender, palms open in, "Bless me, fill me, empty me" position, prostrate in front of an altar, or even a rug in their own one bedroom apartment. Their love isn't supposed to make sense TO the world...but it should be active nonetheless. So what does that look like to you? CLOTHE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF...a bumper sticker that TALKED to me on my walk tonight. Are you WALKING this message? An added blessing, if I'm not mistaken as to it's owner. I believe it belongs to my best friend's husband. ...and if so, I am a witness to his walk, a proud friend seeing him use his gifts to glorify his portion. CYNY is an amazing organization that donates clothing to those in need with every purchase, much like Toms. Just a bunch of words huddled together, that lie dormant on paper, but bring life to many when you take them for a WALK. James Barnett reminds us that, "Neighbors can be further than just next door." ...and I couldn't agree more. Never met a stranger! Why THAT bumper sticker? I mean really, an entire blog post out of THAT? Yup! CLOTHE...ready for the definition? It's a difficult concept, and I'm not sure it is clear enough...but here it goes! 1. to dress; attire. 2. to provide with clothing. 3. to cover with or as with clothing. I know what this looks like in MY life...but what about yours? It is clothed differently with every new season, and often redefined. Tonight as I drove into my community I was sorely disappointed to find that ALL garage parking was taken, so I parked on the street. After my walk I noticed spots had opened up, but finding the appointment in the disappointment I was reminded that in choosing not to move my car, another neighbor could or would park there instead. Who knows? Maybe even my best friend would find her way to a cozy morning without iced over windows. Part of me hopes God doesn't ask this of me every day as it is getting stinkin cold out there...but blessed I will obey. Apparently Georgia doesn't need De-icer and windshield scrapers because it took me not one but four shopping trips to find them. Not even every Walmart carried them. I'm sorry, but below 30 still results in frozen no matter where you are on the map. So...I chose to clothe and face the cold. Venting...and done! It is my BOTTOM love language and yet I am gifted in clothing my neighbor in the tangible. Sometimes a love not understood. I love to bless others with the happenings from my kitchen, and because my TOP love language is quality time that will sometimes show up in the absence of a friend, resulting in an "I thought of you" gift just because. While most would wait for a milestone moment or holiday to bless, I celebrate those in my life year-round and love ON PURPOSE, with the realization that tomorrow isn't promised..at times a love misunderstood. But in this season of my life, God asks that I not clothe my neighbor in the tangible but in what doesn't carry an expiration date....trusting Him with that as my only sword against the one after my heart. Prayer WALKS. So I WALK and clothe. ...still blessing a few with something from the kitchen from time to time. In the Bible when it came to clothing, the BEST was always given away. What if you chose to do the same? What if instead of donating the tattered and torn, you chose the tagged and adored? In Matthew 6:26 we are reminded that the birds don't worry about how they will be clothed. You can clothe your neighbor by listening beneath the "Fine" from the lips of a coworker or friend, respecting boundaries in distance and praying for restoration, giving what you have, sharing what you've lived and learned, singing for your portion, capturing special moments on camera by playing a behind the scenes role in another's story, and even writing a blog to speak truth. The TRUTH is that I have failed and will fail again to WALK the bumper sticker of CLOTHE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. ...and you have too. BUT God... Why, "But God?" I was clothed with the blood of Jesus and made clean. There is no greater clothing. So every attempt outside of that... incomparable. A love so untouchable that I will miss the mark even at reflecting His love. I could walk my neighbor's dog, bring them dinner every Wednesday, watch their kids for date night every Friday...and still my clothing would be found as filthy rags. So with eyes wide and heart open, I listen to how I can best clothe my neighbor. Are you? Sometimes clothing your neighbor is MORE OF YOU just being there, and at others it can be found in honoring space and their desire for LESS OF YOU. Not easy to live but worth it. I miss her more than I have words for and I'm praying for a Christmas Miracle having God restore us. Praying she finds me worth it and praying I hear from her before Christmas...but I will pray no less after. Nobody wants to hear the unspoken, "I want less of you in my life" from someone they love, but if a season of less of me is needed for God to do MORE of a work in their life having them turn inward...then blessed I will obey. I am FOR growth no matter the cost to myself. I'm right here and I don't walk out when it starts to rain. True friends ride out the storms never losing sight of what matters most. "The Struggle IS Part Of The Story." LOVE listens...and always extends grace,believing in growth and restoration. I do. Those who WANT to be a part of what God is doing in you, who WANT you to be a part of their story, milestones and memory making, getting in their pictures, praying through their storms, and glorifying God in friendship...always will be, whether returning from a season away, regaining their trust, or sticking it out when it starts to rain. If you hear nothing, hear this. At 31 I can say that with full confidence enveloped by those who do. You needn't pray for the WANT to be born...it just is. Those who are ALREADY clothed can WALK this bumper sticker...stumble of course, but get up again and again. Clothed in His BEST, suited up with the armor of Ephesians 6...I clothe. Allow Hebrews 4:12 to be your reminder that you are already EXPOSED...so take this bumper sticker for a WALK and clothe. Are you afraid of how it might speak to you? Of being ill-equipped? LOVE ANYWAY! And Proverbs 27:2 your clothing... writing it in a journal instead, revisiting it as a witness to God's story in YOU. THAT is who you are...A WITNESS. Own it! CLOTHE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF..."I hear you LORD!"