God answered our prayers before we gathered together this morning. Now that school is back in session, some of our summer volunteers have returned to college, teaching jobs, etc. Also, several of our regular volunteers were out of town this week. We were concerned that we might be short-handed and prayed that God would provide the volunteers we needed. Not only did God provide the volunteers, but He provided more than enough. One couple felt led to come volunteer this week who had never been before. Another volunteer brought a friend, and yet another brought her daughter and her three friends! God is faithful and He always provides what we need.

Serving a transient population can be challenging on many levels. We do not always know what to expect from week to week, and many times months go by before we see or hear from people we have grown to love. It is also difficult to watch people endure life on the streets. Our hearts ache for the pregnant women we see, the addicts who have given themselves over to lives of destruction, the prostitutes who don’t love themselves and see no way out of their situations, and the list goes on and on. We believe there is a God who can offer hope, but we also see how the enemy has robbed so many with his lies.

Many times we are lauded as heroes for our “good deed” of feeding people. We are praised for “giving back” to our community. But the truth is, there are days when we don’t want to go feed the homeless. There are days when we’d rather stay in bed, pull the covers back over our heads and forget that there are needs outside of our four walls. The truth is that when we evaluate why we do this, we really can’t take a single bit of credit. It is only by the grace of God that we are not all in the same situation as those on the streets. And it is also only by His grace that we are allowed to participate in His work. God has given each of us one life to live on this earth. We are all accountable to Him for how we use our time and talents. Grace’s Kitchen is a calling, not an idea. It was presented to us by God and we had the choice to accept it or ignore it. It is not easy. It is hard. And it will get harder. But we are thankful and we are learning. Thank you for your continued prayers.