Earlier this year I was asked by Bluefish.TV to tell the story of our Laundry Love Initiative in Red Oak.
A few of their guys came out to the laundromat and interviewed Todd and I about Laundry Love for a video project they were working on with Max Lucado — Outlive Your Life.
The filming actually took place on two separate dates. The first video was the interview with Todd and I — and then the rest of the filming took place on a special Friday Night Laundry Love. Since most of our group was unavailable that night, some friends brought their small group and joined us for the “b-roll footage.”
The book, Outlive Your Life, was released in October — and our story was included as part of the companion DVD small group package.
Not that I expected anything less — but I’m really pleased with the end result.
They did a great job telling the story from an “outsider perspective.”
I’m so thankful to be a part of Red Oak Laundry Love — and love telling the story to others.
When we started the initiative, I was totally unsure as to how it would play out.
Our group was excited in the beginning — but as time went on — fewer and fewer people showed up.
There was also uncertainty on my part about starting something like Laundry Love, knowing in the back of my mind that Laurie and I were seriously considering selling our house and moving.
There was even more uncertainty when the two laundromats we approached said they weren’t interested in helping us.
But I knew there was a need (both for the community and our community group) and so we moved forward with it.
Ultimately, we just picked one of the two laundromats, started showing up to do our laundry and just “happened to pay for other’s laundry along the way.”
And in the end, I believe the owners were excited about the results.
There was no fancy fanfare, no ads, no flyers announcing we’d be there. We just showed up at the same time, every month and cared on whoever we could.
And each and every week — no matter how I felt walking into the Laundromat — I walked out blessed and excited.
We kept the Laundry Love Initiative going for a full year in Red Oak before Laurie and I moved to Forney.
And now I’m dying to get another Laundry Love going in our new community.
I truly believe we’ve been blessed so that we can be a blessing to others.
Here’s to hoping it gets many others interested in starting their own Laundry Love Initiatives or something similar. And here’s to getting another Laundry Love group started in the Forney area ASAP.
Also, I’d be amiss if I didn’t say a huge thank you to Greg Russinger and Charles Lee for their willingness to befriend the under-resourced in their community and to cast the vision that’s led to the creation of 65+ Laundry Love initiatives around the country.
Thanks for all you do guys!
Find out more here or at just4one.org.
