HE WATCHES ME
(5x7 inch oil on panel)
This past Saturday I had the honor of being part of a group of people who were blessed to go to Washington Park in downtown Cincinnati for an outreach ministry. Washington Park is located directly across the street from beautiful Music Hall. In a Cincinnati Post article written by Kevin Osborne the park was once known as the "Queen City's crown jewel." But now according to Osborne it is "a haven for stumbling-drunk winos, beggars and drug dealers".
I've always heard it referred to as the Homeless park. It is surrounded by various social service agencies.
We were there to reach out to the homeless people in the park. Our church has a wonderful bus ministry and Samaritan ministry. Each Sunday the bus goes down and picks up anyone who wants to come to church and the Samaritan ministry feeds them breakfast in the morning, and dinner in the evening. The only requirement is that they attend the service after breakfast, or the service before dinner.
Anyway, last Saturday, we were blessed to be able to give out 200 brand new winter coats to those in need. We also served pizza at the drop-in center.
But, the reason I tell this whole story is to tell you about this one little lady who came to the park that day. She was dancing and having a good time. After Pastor finished talking to the people gathered at the Gazebo, he held the microphone to her mouth, and she sang one of the most beautiful versions of the song "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" that I've heard. Her voice was as clear and sweet as a bell.
The thing that is so amazing about that song is the simple truth of it's words..."I sing because I'm happy; I sing because I'm free; His eye is on the sparrow; And I know He watches me." If God watches over every single sparrow in this world, and not one falls without His knowledge, how much more value are we to Him? Amazing. I couldn't believe how many of these people who had reached the bottom walked up to me and hugged me or smiled into the video camera I was operating, and told me how very blessed they were.
2 comments:
I really enjoyed what you wrote about the park, the song and the sparrow - very poetic and truly heartfelt.
Hi Karen, I followed your link from dailypainters and saw you are from Cincinnati! We are too. My sister, Kimberly Applegate, is jumping in to daily paintings also, and I'm helping her out on the technical end. We saw the article in the Enquirer a few weeks ago, but I'm just stumbling onto your blog. Here's to success for both of you! Oh, and by the way, we LOVE those Buddy Cards and I mail for one every year! Sharie
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