Winter

Winter has finally come to Maryland. We had our first snow last night, along with cold, ice, and slippery streets. Schools opened two hours late today.

As the snow began falling heavily last night I went to church where our congregation is hosting “Warm Nights.” This is a county run program to increase the number of shelter beds during the winter months. Last night about 20 men and one woman spent the night in our church building. We had set up cots for everyone and provided dinner. Several church folks had cooked meat loaf, mac & cheese, broccoli and applesauce. It was good food, and the folks ate a lot. Several came back for seconds and thirds. Our guests had to be up and out at seven this morning. We served breakfast and gave them a brown bag lunch. They will be back every night this week and then move on next week to another church that take over for a week.

I came home feeling very thankful for the blessing of my warm house. We live in a nice suburban neighborhood. I don’t see the face of poverty very often. But the people who came for shelter last night are here in my neighborhood. They are real people with sad stories. They are just like me.