SERVING OTHERS

I have no problem serving others in my life. Where my problem lies is going out of my bubble and serving those in a rougher community. You see its not the people I am scared of, it's having to drive in that part of town and worrying if I will be safe. You see it's so easy to serve in my comfort zone, like my church or my neighborhood, but you take me out of that and I start getting a funny feeling in my stomach.

Since, I have started this blog and I have purposely tried to find ways or things out of my "comfort zone" to do. Todd and I have been trying to teach our children how fortunate they are to have a home and food on the table, I felt they were not getting it. So with that I called my friend Pam who serves at the Freedom House, a homeless shelter, every month. She said there was room for our family to come down and serve them dinner. So I made some rice krispie treats for the people and off we went.

As we arrived, I started feeling nervous about what we would see and how the people would respond to us. We pulled up in a rough part of town and waited at their back door for them to let us in. As we were heading up the stairs, the people were lined up the stairs so happy to see us. I almost started crying right when I got there.
Our family and other families there served them dinner and then went and sat and talked with them. My children went on their own to their tables and sat down and held conversations with these people. I was fighting tears, all the while knowing the people were loving interacting with them.

I noticed a lady sitting alone, so I got up the nerve to go sit and talk with her. I couldn't hide behind my kids or my husband, it was just me and her. She was a sweet lady who had a wonderful job and when the economy collapsed she lost her job and everything else that went with it. She was depressed and lonely and I sat there and shared my heart and story with her and let her know that we had a lot more in common than she could imagine. She loves the Lord and so do I and we just started encouraging one another. Women encouraging women, even from totally different walks of life. You see it didn't matter, we just bonded over our trials big and small.

I didn't want the night to end. Our children loved it, we loved it, and can't wait to return next month. By being there, I saw so many familiar situations that are in my community, just different faces. What sweet sweet people, and I think I got a glimpse of what heaven will be like, having all our "bubbles" collide to create something beautiful!