Blessed Summer

Recently my wife and I were invited to go to the Samaritan Awards Banquet at Monona Terrace. It's a joint effort between the Samaritan Counseling Center and Edgewood College. Each year they give awards to individuals or businesses who have gone beyond the call of duty in helping others. This year the awards were given out to several businesses in the Madison area for their efforts to help those with autism… a developmental disability that impairs a person's ability to have normal social interaction and communication. The movie Rain Man, with Dustin Hoffman, was about a man who had a type of autism.        Before the awards were given out a keynote speaker educated us on the often hidden suffering of parents who have kids with autism and the astronomical costs associated with taking care of them. It's not uncommon for parents to use up all of their retirement savings to get services for their children or to end up living in a friend or relative's basement, because it's the only way they can afford to take care of their child. It was truly heart-wrenching… and brought tears to our eyes.        And then they started to give out the awards and tears came again, this time because it was so heart-warming. A fast-food restaurant in the area that not only employs people with autism, but the managers drive to their homes and bring them to work. A swimming school that sets aside valuable class time to work exclusively with people who have autism. A movie theater that offers special showings of movies, so that people with autism and their families can go to a movie without having to endure the stares of other movie-goers or worry about being disruptive. The list went on and on. And over and over again, people who accepted their awards said that they had been blessed or received far more in return than they had given. They said it over and over again: "Even though it's difficult and inconvenient sometimes, helping others feels good!"         The five us from Burke who just returned from our mission trip to Violet, Louisiana definitely would agree. There's no way to fully express how it feels to make a real difference in someone else's life other than to say it feels really, really good. And I wish that feeling for you, too.        If you want to feel blessed, then become a blessing! As you arrange your plans for summer fun and recharging, I hope you'll include some time in them for helping others. It feels great to know that God has made an impact on someone else through you and you'll probably make some new friends in the process!

Peace,

Pastor Russ burkelutheranweb@tds.net

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