Renewed, Refreshed and Restored... Hope for Tomorrow

Of course I took a picture of the only dog there!

I sit here at the City Rescue Mission waiting for my Son to tie up loose ends. My feet ache, my back hurts and my head is pounding... I feel great!!! We just finished serving and cleaning up after feeding roughly 700 people, most of whom are homeless. This is the second year that we have volunteered at the Mission and these last two years have been the best Thanksgivings I can remember. Life has a way of pulling you into your own world which is full of your own problems. When you come to a place like this, that  world suddenly shrinks to a tiny speck in the universe. Your own problems seem like a blip on the radar screen as you see others who truly have problems, needs and sadly very little hope. Step inside a homeless shelter and it doesn't take long to realize it's not all about you. A banner hangs over the entrance that says "God is close to the broken hearted and he rescues those whose spirit is crushed". Those words don't speak just to the homeless and addicted, they speak to everyone of us who

have ever felt brokenhearted or whose spirit has ever been crushed. I am blessed beyond measure, but I'll admit to having felt broken and crushed quiet often this last year. I'm may not be homeless, but I have felt tossed aside and undesired. When I look at these people I realize that I am not broken (at least not completely) and regardless of how I may feel at times, I have not been completely crushed. As far as being tossed aside and undesired, maybe by others, but never by my Lord. We were thanked before the dinner by the director of the Mission for giving up our comfortable Thanksgiving to serve others. He said the sight of so many willing to do so, gave the people who came something they had very little of..... Hope.  Having spent the day in such humble surroundings, I felt renewed, refreshed and yes..... Restored. It's

My Son the Volunteer Coordinator is a
much better person that I will ever be.

my prayer that those I came in contact with today will also feel renewed, refreshed,  and restored. But most of all I pray that they will see a glimmer of hope, that they will see the broken pieces of their hearts put back together again and their spirits will be lifted to new heights. I  firmly believe that many I served today will stand beside me next year to serve others instead of being served. They will see God restore to them their dignity and hope just like he has done for so many of us.