Third Saturday in January

Our time to serve this month came really quickly with all the Christmas activities and the fantastic news in our church service. We had some of our regular people out of town because of Martin Luther King Jr Birthday, but God provided.

As a result of the holiday, we had 4 people serve at the center that had never served there before. It is so cool to watch people absorb the whole experience and let God direct them. They seemed nervous, but once things got rolling, it was all good.

We also had a brand new cooking team which included the first youth to help in this way. We had a great time and we were blessed.

Here is an email from one of those new people who served at the Center.

Dennis,
I wanted to write and tell you how God touched me yesterday. I showed up just to help out and see what God was going to do. I never expected to be blessed the way I was. I helped out in the pantry and clothing room. I was immediately moved and struck to see how grateful and appreciative everyone was to receive clothing that they desperately needed.How often do I take for granted that I have a drawer full of clean underwear and socks! I enjoyed helping the Men pick out the right size jeans and seeing the smiles on their faces when they commented "Wow these are very nice, or this really is my color."

When it was time to go, I ended up giving a homeless friend a ride back to Jessup. He shared his story with me and we talked about his family and that he was never going to give up, no matter what happened. The final blessing came when he was getting out of my car and he commented that there were no belts at the shelter. The Lord spoke to me and told me to give him my belt. I looked down and I was wearing my favorite belt. I battled the flesh for a moment and then surrendered to God and gave him my belt. The look on his face was priceless.

Miracles can happen when we obey our loving Father in Heaven.

That describes the double blessing we receive when we step out and serve. Not only are we a blessing to others, but God blesses us as well. Be on the look out for opportunities to give something away.