Feed Mill

She shows up faithfully every Saturday. You could say religiously. She’s very religious. I think she would like that word. And prayerful, very prayerful. So prayerful in fact, that sometimes I think she only comes for the prayer. We wouldn’t even have to give her the food. That’s not what she seeks most.

Every day is a struggle for her. Her husband suffers from dementia. It’s a tragic disease. She never knows what the day is going to bring. Yet, each day, she rises, she works, she cooks and cleans, she takes care of him, and she prays...all day long she prays.

And each Saturday she comes to House of the Harvest for food, but mostly love and prayer. And while she is there, she picks up eight boxes full. Those boxes get loaded into the back of her pickup and she drives them down the road to the Harvest Feed Mill, where she delivers them to the workers on shift who are unable to come get their own.

She doesn’t know these men working at Harvest Feed Mill. They aren’t her children or her friends. Most of them probably don't even know her name. But every Saturday, they get that box of food thanks to her faithfulness and her loyalty. She doesn’t have to do it. She wasn’t asked to do it. And when she can’t be there, she sends  a message those individuals to make sure they know that she isn’t going to be able to make it.

She goes home every Saturday morning to the same difficulty that she faces every other day of the week, never knowing how it’s going to go or what exactly it’s going to be like. She could sit in her house and complain, feel sorry for herself, drown in negativity, wishing things were different. But instead, she chooses to come every Saturday with a smile on her face and a humble expression, “Just keep praying for us.” She believes in it. And she lives it.

Jesus told a parable in Luke 10 about a Good Samaritan. I imagine he was just like the rest of us. He had plenty of his own problems to worry about. He had his own stress. His life had its own challenges. But, when he saw that man on the side of the road, the one the others had passed by, he stopped, he changed his plans, he took care of his neighbor...whose name he didn’t know, whose predicament he wasn’t in, and whose problem wasn’t his. It took him allowing his life to be put on pause for a time, but it was what someone else needed.

Every Saturday we get to see a glimpse of the good Samaritan at her work. She delivers those boxes despite her problems. And there are children that have food every week because of her faithfulness, her devotion, and her ability to see outside of herself. She’s a good Samaritan. The one who shows mercy. All day, every day.