Today, 10-12-09

It is easy to get lost in the numbers game.
7 years.
100,000 hot dogs.
10,000 pounds of pasta.
25,000 pb&j’s.

We have to remind ourselves that on the other end of every plate, there is someone who can’t afford to eat.
Someone who is lost, lonely, and at times desperate.
And though we will never end the cycle of poverty, we are responsible to each one.
Today was one of those days that reminded me about the critical value of our work.
We helped a young newly homeless woman get into a shelter while some city men lied to her that she could not.  They tried to get her to leave the area with them.  A homeless man let one of our volunteers know, and I believe a disaster was avoided.

Sometimes there are no words.  The stories that emerge in our Monday talks have a place only in fiction….but they are true stories.
Stories of heartbreak and loss.  And deep loneliness and brokenness.
Surely we will never solve this problem.
But we will continue to feed the hungry.   To pray with the man who just lost his family in a car accident.
To be the people the Bible promises when it says that, “God places the lonely in families.”
This is not easy work, but there is no other way.
Thank you for linking arms with us.