Sprinkle Cookies

Single mom. Doing her best to raise her daughter. I can’t speak from experience, but I would imagine it’s pretty challenging. I know what it takes to run my house. I know it would be tough for my family on one income and we both have jobs that pay well. There would be some pretty obvious luxuries that would have to go if we were in her situation. Not to mention some pretty obvious things we consider necessities too. 

She still makes it a point to get herself and her daughter to church on Sunday. It must be important to her. I would love to hear the reason behind that. I would guess she probably draws strength from that place that she can’t get anywhere else. I know about that. It’s usually people like her that understand that better. It’s not about the process of doing church, but a real relationship from real encounters with God that give them what they need to keep going. There is a true dependence that exists in that place that is sometimes hard for us to understand. We have taught ourselves that we are the provider and we take advantage of time and opportunity to provide more. We are self-dependent. But for some, like her, it isn’t so easy. And, as a result, you learn to become dependent on Someone greater. I think this probably describes her. 

She found her way to House of the Harvest on Saturday morning. First time. Desperation I would guess. That’s pretty typical. You don’t know what is out there until you have to find out. And immediately as she pulled into the parking lot, she was recognized by one of our regular volunteers. They go to the same church. He works in the parking lot at both places. 

He made his way over to her car and struck up a conversation with her. We pride ourselves on relationships at House of the Harvest. I preach that message to our volunteers all the time. We have a voice that no other organization has...and people are listening. That is why it’s important. 

Jeff, our parking lot guy, is one of the best. He just has a heart for humanity. You don’t have to wonder about him. According to Jesus, the test of our spirituality is how well we love humanity, especially the people that don’t look, talk, or act just like us. If you want to know the depth of someone’s relationship with Jesus, see how they treat others...others who are different, others who offer them nothing. Jeff is good at this. I think Jesus would say, “Yes, he knows Me well.”

As they talk in that parking lot, he realizes that mom is in some pretty intense pain. He runs inside and packs some things in a box for her. A box of spaghetti, rice, chicken, and some vegetables that were donated, a few other things. He heads over to the Publix table and grabs some bread, an apple pie, and some of those iced cookies with sprinkles, and then he delivers it to the car. He puts the box in the car, stops what he is doing for a moment with her, says a prayer for her at the window, and then she is on her way. Fairly routine stop. One of almost two hundred that morning. Blessing received. See you next week. 

But then on Sunday morning, as he served in the parking lot at church, she pulled up to him. It was her turn now and she wanted to make good. She delivered a card with this message:

“Did you know? I ran out of spaghetti just last week. We had one cup of rice left in the jar. Warm apple pie is my childhood comfort food. My body has been craving chicken. We LOVE veggies. And those sprinkle cookies are what my daughter begs for. I wish you could have seen her reaction when I brought them in! She lit up and gave me the biggest hug! I thank God for you and that amazing ministry.”

Isn’t that beautiful? Only God could have orchestrated the contents of that box. And in a moment, she gets to see that He knows her and her daughter, and that it’s important to Him to let her know that He is there. And we get to see that He is watching over us and what we do in His name. And He has it under control. We just show up with the heart He has for people and He takes care of the details. And when He does, there is no doubt that He is real, He is available, and He loves us all...no matter which side of the line we are on.