HOPE

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! SO... I am feeling some kind of way and I am not quite sure what the feeling is... I went to do some community service on Sunday. I went to Hope Cottage which is a women's shelter, a place for abused women to find solace...shelter from the outside, food for the body and food the soul. At this shelter they provide a warm bed, food prepared by the ladies in the shelter or by those in the community, like we did, and ministry...church, discipleship and fellowship. Food for the body and soul! I was surprised by the ladies I saw in the Cottage. They have the capacity to house about 45 women, 20 single women and the rest is for families. I saw some women who appeared to be in their late 60s early 70s...and I saw a 3 month old baby with her protective mother. I believe I even saw 3 generations of women there a mother, her daughters and her daughters children...young men are allowed up to the age of 13...BUT the whole time I was there I felt uneasy kind of out of place and the thought who am I kept repeating my head. Who am I that I have what I have and these ladies don't? Who am I that I have all that I have and all these women have is what they can fit in the small space they have been given in this place. Who am I that I am able to go to the bank and pull out money and get a hotel room or place to stay and these women can't afford to do so...if things had turned out differently I could be one of these women. I could be in this place....I could be depending on the kindness of strangers for the bare necessities of everyday life. Although I was feeling out of sorts the women there seemed happy and were grateful for everything. I went on a tour of the facility and the lady who was walking us around was talking of how she KNEW she was BLESSED to be there she had been there 4 or 5 years before and even though she found herself there again she knew it was where she was supposed to be. She talked about how she had been running away from God (her blessing) for 56 years and that while she was running she was willing to serve herself to extreme and did it well. BUT she said what she knew was that despite what she was doing and how hard she ran, she knew God was there waiting for her to stop running. She said she felt HOPE and BLESSED to be there. BLESSED...I guess blessing come in many ways and what is being blessed to one may not mean or look the same as being blessed to someone else. BLESSED to be in a shelter... When I was a kid I thought of running away a LOT! BUT I didn't know what to do or where I would go...I was thinking Hollywood would be good but where was it? How would I get there...where would I live? I wonder if there would have been a shelter like the one I was now standing in to help me? I wonder if I would have made it pass the woods in the front of the house before my parents found me. At the time as a kid the thought of being homeless didn't seem to be a big deal to me, but looking at the faces of some of the kids in the shelter it showed me that my thoughts on the matter may have been misguided. There were some elementary school aged boys who were just happy to have each other to play with and then there were some teenage girls who seemed unhappy to be there. Some people were devouring their food and timidly asking for more while some barely took any and only pushed it around on their plates. I wonder how far I would have made it? I wonder what would have happened if I tried...what seemed to be impossible circumstances at home to me may have been no big to the women in here. What I took away from the experience is the overwhelming gratitude these women had for all that they have. As we were cleaning up and preparing to leave the ladies called us up front and as we stood there they expressed their THANKS for the food we had prepared and gratitude for us taking the time to prepare it and share with them. Then they gave us an angel to put on the tree at church and said...'We HOPE YOU have a BLESSED holiday season'... in spite of where they are currently they wanted us to be blessed. WOW...situations and circumstances do not define you they MAKE YOU! The question is who are YOU?! I was happy that I walked out of that place with a better sense of what should and shouldn't be taken seriously...what should and shouldn't occupy my time, my thoughts and my being...if it is not doing anything to make me a better me then there is no room for it. I was also happy that I walked out with JUST the ham bone from the ham I made...instead of a whole family or group of women to bring home with me. Bringing them home with me wouldn't have really changed their situation or their circumstances it would have just changed the location. I pray that I am worthy of the blessing that have been bestowed on me and that I used these blessing to bless someone else. I pray that God truly BLESES those women and children in that shelter and those who have taken on the responsibility to help those in need. May the needs of those in the shelter be filled and may they continue to be grateful. Bless those who are still displaced from the hurricanes and without homes. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. May you be truly THANKFUL for all you have and may you make 2018 the year you help another human being who may not be able to help them self.

See ya when I see ya! Peace! Mattie