Welcomed activity…

I sat in the gazebo for a while on Tuesday, then for a longer time Wednesday.

On Tuesday, I met two high school students who had discovered our new addition and were just hanging out. I talked to them about their soccer team and where they went to school.

On Wednesday, four teenagers were there when I arrived and we talked about Paris basketball and Bourbon County girls basketball. As you might expect, they didn’t come there to talk to me, so they left after a little while.

I watched a fourth grader and a third grader ride their bikes up to the gazebo and tell me where they lived and went to school. The boy was excited about his new principal. I know him, so I asked him to keep an eye on the gazebo for me, but not to approach anyone.

There were the kids from the Y who came to burn off energy.

Probably twenty people walked through the parking lot while I was there, many going to and from the YMCA pool. Maybe ten cars used our lot as a street.

Knitters arrived to sit and knit and talk about life.

One member who parks his truck in the lot waved as he got in his truck to go home.

A Paris Police officer stopped in the lot. I asked the PPD to check on the gazebo at night. I enjoyed seeing him give the fourth grader an adhesive badge for his backpack.

A call came in that a man had collapsed at City Tire. He left to be of assistance.

The huge lift, used by Bailey Painting was driven around and parked after a long workday.

People began to arrive from out of town for a swim meet at the Y.

I walked across the lot to speak to a member who had minor surgery earlier in the day.

The fourth grader helped me pick up trash that had been discarded around the gazebo.

Conclusions: Our parking lot and grass lot are alive with energy and activity. The gazebo attracts people who want to sit and visit a while. This presents us with a great opportunity for ministry to engage our “visitors” who will may never enter the building. It is time that we begin to take advantage of this resource and begin using it for meetings, personal prayer and other creative activity.

Finally, I am deeply grateful to Cameron Smart who has made this his Eagle Scout project, which will complete his journey to Eagle. Then, thanks to all those who have helped Cameron complete the work, especially his dad and mom Greg & Melody Smart.

Keep in mind this project is one of the direct results of the Renewal effort and the Prayer Subgroup.

Moving to the deeper places,
Jeff