This week’s featured OA (Ordinary Attempt) from the New Life Community Church E-Newsletter: 

I went to the gas station to fill up my car. When I was wiping down my windows, a man approached me and asked me for a couple dollars to catch the bus back to San Francisco from San Mateo. I gave him a couple dollars because it felt like something I should do. After I gave him the money, I wanted to do more. I wanted to do a “free attention give away” that we learned about in the Doable Evangelism seminar. So I did it. I just listened.

The man asked me if I was from San Luis Obispo (he had noticed the alumni border around my license plate). I told him not originally, and he began to make small talk about the weather. He mentioned one previous job he had had that paid minimum wage and was very hard - landscaping in Phoenix, AZ in the extreme heat. He said it was the best job he could find in the whole city. He then mentioned some of the hazards he had faced like finding snakes in planters.

The feeling I got from this man was that he was having a hard life, and maybe a little lonely, and needed someone to listen to him. I tried to listen and answer the questions he asked me but I felt like I could have done a better job. I have been able to notice people and pray for them, but I have not been good at starting conversations and making small talk to find out about them. I do find these situations awkward and I feel like God might have been trying to help me notice this guy and listen to him. 

We are so proud of this effort. Yeah, most of us feel we should do more. But she did it! She paid attention to someone who could use a little attention . Way to go!!

(I’m proud of New Life Community Church for being so committed to celebrating the ordinary!  They continue to find regular ways to shine the spotlight on ordinary Christians doing ordinary attempts each week.  Way to go NLCC! –Randy)