Go Beyond

Tonight is the eve of Kingsland’s 8th Annual Caring for Katy — the day when we close the doors to the church building and go out into the community to be the church. Tomorrow morning, Kingsland members will participate in almost fifty service initiatives in Katy and the surrounding communities. Projects include serving widows and single moms, assisting area ministries, beautifying local schools, leading worship in several places, delivering goodie packages to area hospitals and police stations, serving at the YMCA Day Camp, working with area food pantries, and much more.
Over the past several weeks, all of our small groups have identified needs in the community and carefully planned how to meet those needs. Over the past few days, our team leaders have shopped for supplies and staged everything they will need to serve others on Sunday. This is a huge task. As teams have shopped for supplies at our local Lowe’s store, I have been impressed by their attention to a million details — everything from the dimensions of nails, screws, and lumber to types of paints, plants, and pots.

There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes in preparation for Caring for Katy. I am grateful for Terry Bryan and Troy Perry who have spent hours planning our projects at the YMCA Day Camp — and grateful to Jon Davis for serving as our consultant on these projects.

I am also thankful for Greg Johnston who helped me sort through our inventory of supplies and helped me to load them into our Go Beyond van. Kingsland member and Lowe’s employee Amy Causey has been a lifesaver, running all over the store to help our teams find specific items.

And, of course, my assistant Amy Granger has once again done a fabulous job of managing special orders, schedules, purchase orders, and countless behind-the-scenes details. Her job will be just as busy after Caring for Katy as she sorts through and submits a mountain of receipts to our financial office.

Chris Schooler has spent the past three days with me at Lowe’s. He has helped our teams fill their supply lists and loaded approximately one millions bags of mulch and lumber and other supplies onto trailers and trucks. Chris and I have had a great time of fellowship together. We have enjoyed randomly blessing shoppers at Lowe’s, have cleared the parking lot of rogue shopping carts, and have spent quality moments having meaningful conversations with Lowe’s employees. Thank you, Chris, for hanging out with me this week. I am grateful to you for your friendship and help.

Caring for Katy is, essentially, the sum of all the tiny details — the myriad of things that must happen before Sunday morning so that those who participate can lend their strength to serve the people of our community and, by so doing, bring glory to God. I am excited about how God will use the people of Kingsland to demonstrate God’s love to the people of our community on Sunday, March 1. Like many of you, I am praying that the rain in the forecast will not come and that we will have a beautiful day to serve others. But, even if the rains come, we will still love and serve our community.

Special thanks to all of the small group leaders and all of the Caring for Katy point persons who have worked so hard to make this year’s initiatives a success. I look forward to seeing our people in action as we care for Katy once again.