One Billion Percent Sure

I just arrived home from my first shift at the Mustard Seed Church, and had to write everything down before I lost these feelings to a world of sleep. What an amazing night! I started out by handing out plates to each person who came in for dinner - I would say 8 out of 10 said thank you for the plate - they were a polite group of people, but they were hungry. At 800 the food was cut off and there were still many who came in looking for dinner or asking for seconds. They knew that I was a newbie and tried to get through the line twice - one young smarty-pants asked for a second plate, in a way that I knew he was just testing me. I politely declined. At least one person snuck through for seconds - I only recognized him because he was wearing a baggy blue dress shirt. However, I wasn't 100% sure, so didn't say anything.

After dinner, the coffee bar lineup began. I offered to help, and was astounded by the volume of sugar and hot chocolate that people were drinking. I guess the sugar helps calm down the hunger pangs a bit. There was one younger man who came through four times while I was there, each time getting two scoops of hot chocolate in his coffee. A lot of people kept asking if there was any food left, and finally at about 830 we brought out some leftovers from the kitchen. The lineup suddenly grew much longer. We went through all of the leftovers, and then put out some day-old bagels and pastries - there weren't very many, just a tray full. It was sadly amazing how everyone went into self-preservation mode, not caring that there were hardly any buns and pastries to go around. One young guy filled a container that he said would be lunch tomorrow. One older guy took at least four donuts. I guess when you're that hungry, you look out for number one.

And so I'm going to sleep now in my cozy bed, with mountains of food waiting for me for breakfast, and a lot of the people I met tonight will be eating the leftovers they snuck out tonight, or nothing at all. I'll be thinking about the young mom and her two kids who kept coming through the lineup for some extra buns, and the young man who liked hot chocolate in his coffee, and the guys playing crib at the back table, and the man who had a puzzle in his pocket that I wanted to try. I looked for him after dinner but couldn't find him - maybe I'll try his puzzle next week.

It sure puts some things in prespective, as I purposely starved myself in the past couple of weeks to try to win a stupid challenge at our local gym. At least I now have the choice to be able to eat whatever I want. Those people are starving all the time and are so grateful for the meal we served tonight.

As I left the Mustard Seed Church, I had no doubt in my mind that it was exactly where God wants me to be and to serve. I had ignored the calling for so long, and now I am positive that this is where I need to be. My only wish is that I could be there every night instead of just once a week.