There's an App for that

Reposted from www.craigbwilliams.blogspot.com

This past Sunday night some friends and I gathered with bowls filled to the brim with mashed potatoes (with homemade gravy of course!), green beans, hot rolls, chocolate chip cookies, fried chicken and roast beef. While this sounds like the beginning of a perfect Sunday pot-luck, the food wasn’t for us. We carefully heaped generous portions into aluminum to-go dishes while the food was still hot and then neatly stacked them together in a large cooler to keep them warm because we were hitting the streets to give it away.

As we were pulling out of the driveway we began to joke about how we would find hungry people at that time of the evening asking if “there’s an app for that”?

Turns out there is!

It’s called Lovebag and while it cannot GPS locate homeless or hungry people it does give you good ideas on what to hand out in care packages, how to start a conversation as well as some phone numbers and websites you can contact to get more information or find out how to get more involved. While our boxes of food were not necessarily up to Lovebag code we pressed on. We had prepared 20 boxes of food and were already a little nervous and probably a little reluctant to get started. Having never done this before, questions like,

“Do we stop?”
“Should I pull over?”
“What should I say?”
“Is this safe?”

began to surface as the new conversation. But we were all truly excited when we found our first victim. Someone mustered enough courage to shout out through the window of the truck we were in to yell: “Are you hungry!??” To which he excitedly nodded. We leaped in the back of the truck and began assembling all the essentials: Box of food, Utensils and a neatly wrapped package of baked goods. We noticed he had a hungry looking dog as well so two plates were given so everyone had a meal. Out of our 20 boxes we were able to hand out 10 meals in all. For us it was a tremendous success. 9 people were able to eat last night who might otherwise have gone hungry and probably do most nights.

We forget sometimes that we treat food as a given in our lives. We, like anything else in our lives that are routine, take it for granted. It is a reminder for us all when we serve those without how rich we truly are. If you have access to the internet to read this you are rich and probably, without even wondering, expect to have dinner tonight. This past Sunday Carl Etchison challenged us to replace three meals this week with a simple cup of rice. We are to do this to remind us of the simple pleasure of having food that others usually don’t and would jump at the possibility to eat. My confession to you is that I don’t want to do that. I love rich sauces made from vinegar and wine reductions seasoned with fresh herbs and homemade stocks. Deep intricate flavors that cause tastebuds to dance. I am a food snob. This challenge while difficult must be done though. After last night I no longer want to be “that guy.” I’m not going to cease liking what I like but I no longer want to take what I have for granted but live in a Holy satisfaction whether there is food or there isn’t.

One of the striking things about our experience last night was the recipient’s willingness to speak of God. Almost everyone said “God bless you” at receiving a meal and I wasn’t even sneezing! We say something significant when we say “God bless you” to someone else because we’re not saying what we usually say: “God bless me.”
In their poverty, they said to us God bless you. In their poverty they are offering whatever blessing God has allowed them pass along to us. There is not app that can make you be selfless. I know that on my own I am self serving and not generous so I’m turning to God and asking that the Holy Spirit empower me to eat the rice, to change my heart and say God bless you.


Something to think about:

For me to eat a decent meal at a decent restaurant it usually costs me approximately $15. Last night I spent $15 on my portion of the meal we assembled ( Pot Roast and to-go boxes) It made enough to feed 20 people. We fed 10. How would I have better spent the $15? A Chicken fried steak for myself or feeding ten people who might not have eaten last night?