This week our church is participating in a program run by the county social service department called Warm Nights. During the cold months various churches in our town volunteer to turn their building into a shelter for a week. This is our week. Last night my ladies' circle prepared dinner for our guests. About six PM our guests began to arrive. They were pretty ordinary looking folks. You probably would not identify them as homeless if you passed them on the street. Some of them work during the day. The children attend school. Some have mental problems that make working impossible for them. The folks I visited with were friendly people who were profoundly grateful for a safe place to sleep and some food to eat. They are nice people who have hit a hard place in life. We had prepared a meal of meat-loaf, potatoes and collard greens, with sweet potato pie for dessert. The greens were the big hit of the evening. The pot was licked clean. After dinner some went to take a shower, some visited and shared events of the day, some watched the TV. One man had a sewing kit and was mending clothes for others. A few curled up and their cots and went to sleep. For this week our fellowship hall was home, and they were glad to be there.
This morning other church folks fed them breakfast and sent them out for the day with a bag lunch prepared by another group of church folks. They have to be out and gone for the day about six AM. Tonight they will return. Sunday morning they will move on to the next shelter for the week.
I am grateful for the work of the county and it's churches in helping these people. I am grateful that I was able to be part of the effort to keep these needy people safe, warm and fed.
I am just overwhelming grateful for my life today.
Our church fellowship hall as a shelter from life's storms.
2 comments:
I am in tears reading this, I just wrote a post whingeing about MY life and I have nothing to worry about at all, my children and I have a safe, comfortable home and beds.
Good on you for doing this work.
"I woke up this morning, as I do most mornings, in my comfortable, warm bed. My husband of fifty years slept beside me. We were safe in our warm, quiet house house. The only difference was that this morning I was acutely aware of the blessing of having a home and family."
we were like this. We actually loved enough to appreciate the sacredness of what we had while we had it. Miss that so much.
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