Excuses

A few days ago I accompanied Adam and two other volunteers down to Harvard St. to pick up some Neighborhood Block party questionnaires. About 75 questionnaires had been delivered to each household on that street the previous day. Adam, the neighborhood volunteers, and I eagerly looked forward to what we hoped would be an overwhelming response from the people. 

Our first encounter was with a middle aged man who was not excited by our presence. He repeatedly referred to Adam as “homes”. Adam kept his composure the whole time. We encountered two other men who conveyed a genuine interest in having a block party on their street. We finally neared the end of the street, when I spotted two hispanic ladies barbecuing with their children. I was already bummed we hadn't had much luck because out of the 75 questionnaires we had only retrieved 4.

I hesitantly asked Adam If I should walk over to the ladies and , hoping he'd say “no lets go back”, but he fortunately encouraged me to go ahead and talk to the ladies. So I hesitantly approached their front yard and asked them, in spanish, if they had received and filled out the Neighborhood block party questionnaire. One of the ladies kindly replied “Yes I got it, what is that all about?” I answered her question and she replied “I don't have much money but I'd like to contribute a 'sopita' (soup) and a salad.” 

I left thinking this lady has very little yet she's willing to give. It reminded me of when God commanded Moses to go before Pharaoh and demand that he let the Israelites go. “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11 Moses' response to God is typical of how I tend to respond to God. “I don't have much money” or “I don't have time”; any excuse to make me feel good about recusing myself from God's plan I've already used. But this lady being able to excuse herself, as the other 71 people did, committed to give from what little she had. God uses ordinary people like you and me, only when the excuses cease.

God's response to Moses was “I will be with you.” A promise He has promised to each and every single believer. 

-Edgar Guzman