As our Church Council, pastors, and staff wrestled through all of the reopening decisions (Read the FAQs HERE) (See video summary HERE), I found myself incredibly conflicted. Some of the decisions we made I am 100% behind and believe in. Some of the decisions (after a lot of thought and prayer), I recognize as necessary for the time being even though I don’t like them. I haven’t known what to do with this inner conflict until God reminded me of a scene that played out in our driveway a few weeks ago.

As many of you know, our family is also navigating Cooper’s (our 22-year old son) cancer diagnosis and chemo-therapy during this global pandemic. It has radically challenged and changed our family. We are exhausted – emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

Cooper has a group of friends that he has navigated life with since middle school. They are all very close – been in bible studies together, graduated high school together, roommates, housemates, vacations, graduated from K-State together. Cooper was supposed to be in a couple of their weddings this summer, but obviously he can’t do that.

Like many of you, we have dealt with a lot of disappointment.

A few weeks ago, his friends wanted to have a graduation celebration together. It was to be their last hoorah before they all got jobs, got married, and moved away. How could they do that with Cooper, given his vulnerable immune system and the COVID-19 pandemic?

If Cooper gets sick, it could kill him. So Amy and I set the ground rules:
Must be outside, in our driveway/cul-de-sac.
Nobody comes in the house.
Must maintain social distance.
Wear a mask.
Nobody touches Cooper or anything that gets to Cooper.
Hand sanitizer will flow like water.
We can shut it down, so Cooper doesn’t get exhausted.

Every single one of them responded: No problem. We’re in.

It was 100 degrees with no breeze. We had Popeye’s and cookies. Not one of them complained. They were too busy laughing and telling stories. I was blown away by their act of love and kindness towards Cooper.

They chose to be inconvenienced because…

They knew it was only for a short period of time.
They knew there were better days ahead.
They did it for someone they loved.

That driveway lesson has stuck with me, because it’s a picture of Western Hills Church.

Western Hills Church has an incredible legacy of serving others. We have a trophy case full of stories where we chose to inconvenience ourselves for the sake of others.

Opening our building and facilities to the community.
Scholarships for a Christ-centered sports experience.
Providing hundreds of meals to food-insecure families.
Providing funding for COVID-19 affected families.
Adopting three different schools.
Engaging with trash-dump communities.
Supporting missionaries in at-risk/closed countries.
Adopting international college students to show them the love of Christ.
Partnering with Antioch to model bridge-building to our city.

We have consistently chosen to be inconvenienced because we knew that it was only a short inconvenience in light of eternity. We know that there are better days ahead. Most importantly, we do it because we deeply love people.

All people. Because they are made in God’s image AND because God loves them deeply.

This is living out the reality of Jesus. And my prayer is that this once again comes shining through during this difficult season.

Let’s go be the church.