lubbockdreamcenter.org

Sometimes success is measured in the number of persons served, but the true picture of success is seen in the impact on the individual behind the number. The transforming power of a pair shoes, given in love, is beyond any numerical calculation of worth. Just meet Sandra, she is one of the hundreds who have been touched by the Lubbock Dream Center Clothing Closet. As a resident of the Dream Center neighborhood, Sandra attended the clothing distribution events at Bean Elementary that began long before the building of the Lubbock Dream Center facility. As she watched the sincere appreciation of her neighbors as they received good quality clothing, a dream was stirred in her heart to give of her time and talent back to the clothing ministry. Today, Sandra’s dream of being a dedicated Clothing Closet volunteer has been realized. She has given much of her time and talents to helping Candi Jackson, Clothing Closet Coordinator, facilitate not just the distribution of clothing but an enjoyable atmosphere of love and care for all who enter the Lubbock Dream Center Closet in need.

According to Sandra, when she first came across the clothing distribution she did not know the word of God, but it is through the clothing distribution that she encountered Jackie and Roy Pearce who where holding Bible Studies in the neighborhood. The Pearce’s teaching gave Sandra the desire, the interest and the determination to want to know God and be informed. She was also inspired in those early days as she watched perfect strangers care for herself and her neighbors without expectation of return. Sandra says now, “Watching Liz, Carl, and Pastor Jackie, as total strangers at the time, cleaning up the neighborhood and distributing needed tangible items in the early days showed genuine love and taught me to hope, dream, and create goals.” The compassionate distribution of needed items combined with acts of service and the sharing of faith set Sandra on a path toward a goal that she had once never thought was attainable, the goal of being able to give back and looking out for the interests of others rather than only being able to take and look out for her own interest. She began this transformation journey by stepping out and giving her time as a volunteer.

Sandra did not wait for the Lubbock Dream Center facility to be built to begin volunteering, she immediately put her hands and heart to work helping serve her neighbors. Looking back at this time in her life, Sandra excitedly shared that, “Since then I have been saved; I am reborn as a Christian, and have had the opportunity to work in both the clothing and food ministries at the Lubbock Dream Center.” Although Sandra’s path to a giving focused life came quickly and rather easily because of the examples of giving focused lives who equipped her to do be the same, she found herself in a position of real need.

Sandra would need the Dream Center more than ever when the day appeared that everything she owned was lost, everything except the clothes on her back. The clothing closet, a place she already loved and served received the opportunity through this situation to bless her in return. Sandra had been giving and giving through the Clothing Closet and now she had no other choice but to receive. Her delight in receiving came when those at the Clothing Closet did not belittle her, but as the body of Christ, continued to show love and not alter the relationships that had been forged.

After hearing Sandra’s story a pair of shoes just do not look the same, just as now one of the numbers in the calculation of the mass served by the Clothing Closet will not look the same. In a pair of shoes we can see a person with a dream and know that the beginning of their journey may be just one pair of shoes away. Those shoes mattered to Sandra, not for the comfort of her feet but for the comfort of her soul as would be any article given in love. Sandra’s experience summed in her own words is this, “The Dream Center wears its title well, it allows you to feel human again and be able to dream. It makes you want to reach for the sky and realize the importance of the need for your own well-being as well as others.”