Blessings

I called her in the middle of her minimum wage work shift the other morning. Fortunately, I caught her in the middle of a short break. I had really good news for her. A family I knew wanted to sponsor her grandkids for Christmas. That was a huge blessing to her I know. I asked her if she could text me a few things the kids would like. Apparently she isn’t much for texting. She replies, “Can I just come up there today sometime?” Of course, I am not going to tell her no. “Sure thing. What time?” I reply. 

Then I listen as she tries to figure out what time she gets off work, her husband is able to come by with the car, and get her up to the school and then wait for her to finish meeting with me because they only have one vehicle. It’s a much different world than the one I live in where Jennifer and I both drive our own car to well paying jobs. I get frustrated when one of our vehicles is out of commission for a day or two. Life is rough, right?

They picked up a Thanksgiving meal from House of the Harvest. I asked her how the holiday was. “It was good,” she replied. “I wanted to tell you thanks.” I can’t take the credit. I only play a small part. There are a lot of pieces that go into making that happen. You take away any one person or piece and House of the Harvest ceases to exist. That tells me that all the credit is due to one place...the One who holds all things together. 

I asked her if that pie was good. She said, “I gave it my neighbor. She couldn’t come up there that day. She was home with her grandson. It’s just him and her. I try to help her out when I can. We had to eat that turkey, but I gave her the pie.”

And in that moment, I just didn’t quite know how to respond. I mean, honestly, most of our families could eat a meal like we do on Thanksgiving every single week, some of us probably every day if we really wanted to put the time into it. And for a family that gets to eat like that once a year to have enough compassion for someone else in that one moment to give from theirs...I literally didn’t know what to say. 

So after a long pause, I found all the words I could find, “Thank you for doing that.” And she replies, “I try to take care of her. She’s my coworker.” And she was taking care of her. In fact, she was taking such good care of her that I was inspired by it. I mean really inspired. 

She left my office and headed out of the school. Since she left that day, I have reflected on that sacrifice multiple times. And all I can conclude is that God is good. In February of 2015 He moved hearts to start supplying the need of hungry children. Just a few months later He moved hearts to supply a building to multiply supplying the need of hungry children. Over four years later, He is still moving people to give of their time, energy, and resources to keep on supplying the need of hungry children. 

But He moves in the big and the small. And someone donated that $6 that bought that one pie that went out the door to that one family as a blessing. And then it became a blessing again. And the one who received was allowed to be the one who gives...and all to the glory of God the Father, who orchestrates every gift. 

And I don't know about you, but I think that is really cool. And this is even better...in that office sat two of us. Both being blessed by the person across the desk. One with food and one with inspiration...both with exactly what they need, exactly when they need it. And only God can do that.