Our Father's House

I went to a familiar place today, somewhere where I hadn’t been in a long time. Since the beginning of the semester, I’ve been inconsistently volunteering at a nearby soup kitchen in Warsaw called Our Father’s House. As the end of the semester has gotten closer, my attendance has become less frequent. I don’t think it’s the amount of homework or stress I have that determines if I want to go or not. No, there’s always hesitance after my 11:00 Bible class gets out when I ask myself if I’m going to go or not. And I don’t know why. It’s one of the most refreshing places I’ve ever been. It’s so relaxing to get off of my beautiful, safe, and comfortable campus and go and hear old ladies talk about their insurance problems and their  “beautiful grandbabies”. J  But it’s also one of the most uncomfortable places I’ve ever been.           

So once again today, I got out of my 11:00 Bible class and scanned my planner to see if I had anything to distract me from going, and of course there was, because there always is something to do, but something grabbed me, and I said to myself, “I need to go.” Avoiding anything that I knew could put off me going, I ran to my car and headed out.

As I walked through the half attached door, the familiar waff of stale coffee and cigarette smoke greeted me, along with the faces of Charlie, Maggie, and Doris (three of my favorite people to see there) and my brother’s familiar voice. I saw Kim Kim and Kay serving food and Corey manning his dishes, just as they always do. I saw a new pair of incarcerated cooks throwing Sloppy Joes and macaroni salad together, gathering that Jeremiah had been released, and the old man with one leg sitting at his usual spot.  As I sat down to talk to Doris, Charlie, and Maggie, the sweet sound of an accordion playing “Jesus Loves Me” danced around the room.

I had forgotten how much I love being there. I had forgotten that I so often see Jesus more evidently in that place full of lost, homeless, and struggling people than I do on my Christian campus. I forgot what a blessing it is to be around people that don’t act like they have everything under control. 

The man who was playing the accordion moved to the piano and began to play many of my favorite hymns (ha, well, if you know me at all, you know that pretty much all hymns are my favorite)… Just As I Am, Onward Christian Soldiers, In the Garden, Tis So Sweet, Jesus, Friend of Sinners…it was such a beautiful and unexpected blessing. As I made more coffee, listened to the piano and Curtis share Jesus with a couple, I kind of smiled to myself thinking how much Jesus knew I needed this. I love that He just kind of sits back and waits while we’re running around being busy with life. I love when He shows us that He is still so very much at work, even when we are so blind with ourselves and our busy schedules and can't see it. I love that He doesn’t scold us, but he blesses us so beyond what we expect. I love that He is so abounding in love…