{"id":1033,"date":"2013-12-05T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-05T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/12\/have-you-ever-cried-over-a-pair-of-socks-a-reflection-in-ministry.html"},"modified":"2013-12-05T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-12-05T11:00:00","slug":"have-you-ever-cried-over-a-pair-of-socks-a-reflection-in-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/12\/have-you-ever-cried-over-a-pair-of-socks-a-reflection-in-ministry.html","title":{"rendered":"Have You Ever Cried Over a Pair of Socks? A Reflection in Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

by Pastor\u00a0Jason Mikel<\/a>
Special to R3<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

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I\u2019ve never cried over a pair of socks. I\u2019ve never even seen someone cry over a pair of socks. That all changed on Monday night though when a woman named Vicky showed up in an East Nashville parking lot for burritos. \n

I didn\u2019t quite know what to say when she looked up at me with big tears in the corners of her eyes. I\u2019d just asked her if she needed a pair of socks because we were giving them away, too. That\u2019s when she dropped her head and nodded. Soon after came the tears only to be accompanied by a slew of thank yous. I didn\u2019t know how to react so I just handed them to her and said \u201cYou\u2019re welcome\u201d and hoped that was enough. What do you say to someone who has so little that a pair of white athletic socks makes that kind of impact?<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n


<\/span><\/div>\n
I asked her a few minutes later if I could get a picture with her because I needed to keep this moment. I needed to hold on to it. I\u2019m not sure why but I think it has to do with reminding myself that what Christians do for others matters.
<\/span>\n

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So many times in the Burrito Ministry<\/a> I wonder if we\u2019re doing enough. Could we be doing more? Are we just coasting along? I mean I know that people get a good meal and we\u2019ve built relationships and all that. As Monday nights sort of become habit though, I wonder if what we\u2019re doing really makes a difference in people\u2019s lives. Vicky\u2019s tears erased my fears and instead motivated me. I realized how vital it is that we Christians show people that we do indeed care about them.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

See, it\u2019s not just the socks that got Vicky crying. I know it\u2019s more than that. It\u2019s that people cared enough to give her a pair of socks that struck Vicky. She didn\u2019t tell me that but I know it. So many times in life, she\u2019s been passed by and mocked and sneered at, but this time people told her they cared enough for her to make sure she had clean, comfortable socks, something the rest of us just take for granted. How much do you like your socks to be clean and comfortable? How much more meaningful would it be to someone who rarely gets such a thing? \n

I want to thank Mt. Sharon Cumberland Presbyterian Church<\/a> for caring enough about our friends on the streets to collect the hundreds of pairs that they did. We\u2019ll be handing out socks for a long time.<\/p>\n

More than that though, I\u2019d like Mt. Sharon\u2019s collection of socks to challenge you and your friends, your church, or your organization. What do you take for granted everyday that you could collect for our homeless friends? How about undergarments? Maybe toilet paper? What about nail clippers? What\u2019s your idea? Now go collect them and then hand them out. Call one of us from the Burrito Ministry if you need and we\u2019ll help you do it.<\/p>\n

Because I\u2019ve never seen someone cry over a pair of socks. Have you?<\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Pastor\u00a0Jason MikelSpecial to R3 I\u2019ve never cried over a pair of socks. I\u2019ve never even seen someone cry over a pair of socks. That all changed on Monday night though when a woman named Vicky showed up in an East Nashville parking lot for burritos. I didn\u2019t quite know what to say when she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHave You Ever Cried Over a Pair of Socks? A Reflection in Ministry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Pastor Jason MikelSpecial to R3I've never cried over a pair of socks. I've never even seen someone cry over a pair of socks. 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