RHave you ever looked for God in our parking lots? Seriously, when is the last time you expected to encounter the Risen Lord in the parking lots of JCPC?

Typically, I think of parking lots as an "asphalt jungle" or a "hot zone" that radiates excessive heat in the summer.

When I think of parking lots the Joni Mitchell's catchy tune Big Yellow Taxi begins to play in my head:
Paved paradise, put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got till it's gone
Paved paradise, put up a parking lot
-Joni Mitchell Big Yellow Taxi

Mitchell's song is a prophetic reminder to cherish what God has given us rather than find out what we have lost when it's too late.

So imagine my surprise when I encountered the Risen Lord in our parking lot on Friday night! That's right in our parking lot. It wasn't some mystical vision or a cosmic revelation due to the "Snow Moon" rising above our steeple. I encountered the Risen Lord in the Compassion International trailers where I walked the path of Olive, a young Ugandan girl who overcame poverty, illness and terror, through the assistance of Compassion International.  Our Risen Lord's words come to mind:

Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.  -Matthew 25: 34-36

In God's kingdom, sometimes we are found in a parking lot. Come meet Jesus in the Compassion International trailers today.

Prayer for Today

Gracious God, find us in our wants and needs by inspiring us to reach out to others in their wants and needs and in doing so share in the mercies of our Risen Lord. Amen.