You’re invited

To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really want to go.  Yesterday was the first day of school for my kids, and my plan was to eat cookies as they came home and then chill out together and hear about one another’s day.  We would have dinner and get to bed “on time.” But then the invitation came – “We’re going to be short staffed at the pantry this week. Do you think you guys will be able to make it?”

There are a lot of things I get asked to do that I can say no to without a moment’s hesitation and without any guilt.  But this time it wasn’t so easy. One kid wanted to go. The others were less than enthusiastic – they wanted to lounge after their first day of school, too.  And I don’t want them to get the message that their hearts are less important to me than some stranger’s pantry.

But I’ve been thinking about what it means to be on the lookout for God’s invitation.  It’s not enough to simply acknowledge that God is at work. God is at work in and through people.  Sure He’s still in the miracle business, but quite a lot of the time He invites us to be part of the miracle. Hanging out at home with my kids and some cookies is a wonderful place to be, but I’d rather be part of someone else’s miracle.

So we readjusted.  When the last kid got off the bus, instead of putting our feet up, we rolled our sleeves up.  And when we got there, it was evident that it had been God’s invitation.  My son has been wanting to work in the freezer room, and without asking, that’s where he was assigned.  But that’s not all. He got to hand out 230 pizzas, his absolutely most favorite food.

This week I helped new families check in, which was a challenge for my very inadequate Spanish.  But by God’s grace, I was able to connect with people who shared their heartaches, their financial hardships, struggles with sickness, and their strong desire for their loved ones to be saved.  And then there was Louisa, who must not have believed me when I told her my poquito espanol was muy mal because she told me in very rapid Spanish in a noisy room that they were in a tough place.  They had prayed that God would help them, and then they found out about the pantry. Her gratitude was bigger than her joy. She kept hugging me, and all I really did was help her fill out a piece of paper.  I got all that in place of a cookie.

Everyone who left the pantry last night was carrying boxes or bags of goodies.  But I left with a heart full of God’s goodness. I am so deeply grateful to the God who sees us and responds with mercy and compassion.

And there was even an extra box of donuts to bring home at the end of the night.

“He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.” Ephesians 3:20