God has really laid it on my heart to help service our church with the food pantry. It is such a great need. So many people make use of this wonderful ministry provided by our church, as I am sure happens with most churches around the country. I know there are people who depend on the church to be able to feed their family in a crisis.
Personally, I have never been in the situation that I had to call on the church for a meal, but that is by the grace of God. I know many people who have, tho.
I have donated monetarily many times (my etsy shop is all about this) and I have donated food on several occasions. I never feel it is enough, because it is not.
This morning, the Lord laid it on my heart to go to a grocery store I very rarely go to. As I pulled into the parking lot I asked God why this store? I knew there had to be a reason and I was going to look for it. I thought maybe there would be someone there I was supposed to witness to, maybe someone in the parking lot needed help - but there was no doubt in my mind it was from God.
I went along the aisles of the store quickly grabbing food items - I only had about 25 minutes before my work day. I bought boxes of cereal, packages of spaghetti, cans of meat sauce, various cans of vegetables. When I got to the check out - a Paula Deen lookalike - both in body and accent - was as sweet as can be and when I asked her if she knew if the grocery store ever donated to churches for food pantry she quickly got the manager. I asked him the same question and he said they used to - but not so much any more. I explained that there was such a great need and that our church food pantry pretty much emptied as fast as it filled up and he said "bring me a letterhead from your church and I will see what I can do". I was so excited - and I told the Paula Deen lookalike that now I know why the Lord chose this particular store. All she could say was "wow - wow - wow". So I feel like it was a two-fer kind of morning. #1 The promise of a donation #2 The witness to the check out lady - thank you, Lord - you done good!
I love these situations, when God calls His people to act on Faith, and then when you do...something WONDERFUL happens! This just gives me chills. Thanks so much for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing this. I get chills whenever I hear how God works every day in our lives. I know it is going to sound silly, but it always sneaks up on me! I know God does these things, but whenever they happen, I am always excited with the gift. I especially loved this blog.
ReplyDeleteGod directed your path. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this. There is a great need to feed hungry people. The rate of people who need food assistance has increased significantly since 2000. We cannot depend on our government to help our neighbors. We must do it ourselves. We are CALLED to do it ourselves. I'm currently working on a several week series on my blog called "Making the Best of Things" directly talking about what to expect when a person needs to go to a food pantry and how to "make the best" of the foods they may receive. The last post in the series will be places people can go for help. You can check it out at http://nowthingsarecookin.blogspot.com
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