A "Parent to Parent" Article by Kim Truss.

About a year ago, my husband Rob and I took Tyler to Church Under the Bridge. Church Under the Bridge is a Sunday morning church service under IH-35 that reaches the homeless and troubled in the Austin area. Tyler was only 3 years old when we served there as a family. Although our parents thought he was too young to understand what was going on, we felt the exposure to another culture would be good for him.

It was amazing to see how he responded. He was so sensitive to the fact that people didn't have a home. He would ask questions like: "Where do they sleep? What do they sleep on? Are they cold?" It bothered him so much that one day at a red light he asked me, "Mom we need to buy that man a house." I smiled and said, "I wish we could buddy, how about we pray for him to come to know Jesus."

Time passed, and Christmas 2009, together with the women from my area mom's group, we had been praying for our children, especially that God would start developing characteristics like Jesus in the hearts of our children. We also wanted to become more missional as stay-at-home moms with our children. We thought there wasn't a better way than to allow them to actively take part in something we are doing for the City of Austin. We decided to reach out to the homeless and make bags to distribute to them.

This was a great way to watch our children get excited about helping others. From a personal perspective, watching Tyler get involved excited me. He is 5 years old and asked so many questions. This was a great way for him to learn to serve others. We collected items to put in lunch bags - items such as peanut butter crackers, granola bars, water, socks, and fruit. My dentist donated toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss. He loved filling the bags and helping to staple them. We put information about Church Under the Bridge on the outside of the bags. We made over 50 bags and distributed them among the group members.

The first time we stopped at a red light and gave one to a homeless guy, Tyler asked me why he was homeless. It was hard for me to answer because I truly didn't know what caused this man to be without a home. He began to become more aware of the people around as we stopped at red lights reminding me to hand them a bag. He was truly concerned for these people and it opened my eyes as well. Once we were out of bags, Tyler continued to ask me to give them something. I told him even if we don't have something to give we can pray for them to know Jesus and ask Jesus to help them. We now keep water in the car most of the time to hand out.

As a parent of three children, life has all of a sudden become extremely busy - without a dull moment in the Truss home. I can only hope that by starting at a young age, serving with my children in small ways will only grow because of what the Lord is doing in their hearts. One thing is for sure, our children will not learn to serve...if we as parents are not serving.

"As those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." Colossians 3:12

Kim is married to Rob Truss, and together they have three children - Tyler (5), Grayson (3), and Bentley (9 months)