Forget the Toys, Lady…I’m Hungry!

September 17, 2009

As October approached and Wesley House had begun to take applications for Christmas,
a Mom and Dad brought their little seven year old girl in and sat before me. As I took their
information, (it was around 11:00 a.m.) this little girl looked up at me and asked “Excuse me,
Ma’m…what is that I smell?” I told her that the cook was busy with dinner for the pre-school. At
that, she asked if she could have a little…that she was hungry and her baby brother had cried all
night because they had no milk. I looked at the parents and they were visibly embarrassed and
“busted”. The truth was, both of these adults had 4 year degrees from universities but were
victims of Katrina. They had returned “home” only to find their landlord would not repair their
home so they came back to Meridian to get a house and jobs. They could not get housing
because there was no job, ‘couldn’t get a job because they had no housing. They were degreed
people who found themselves homeless. Their family consisted of themselves, their two children
and two grandparents and guess where they were living? In their van. They were at the end of
their rope, wanting their children to have Christmas toys, but like their little girl said, “Can I just
have some food for us…forget the toys, Lady, I’m hungry!”
Here’s what happened next…I picked up the telephone and found one of our “Fishes and
Loaves” constituents who volunteered to put them up in a garage apartment until they could
afford to move out on their own. (It took them one month!) Then, I called a computer company
that we have done business with and told them that I had a guy who needed a job. The truth is,
THEY really needed him. Isn’t that GREAT?! It gets better…one of our Clinic doctors was open
to giving the Mom a job as a nurse! See! That’s your Wesley House, community-faith based
mission. You’ve got to love it!
So here’s the thing…as Christians, we need to continually pray God’s guidance in the
service of others. There I was, focused on toys for the children in this hurting family, when God
had sent them to Wesley House to be fed, clothed, nurtured and loved. Sometimes, as Christians,
we force others to listen to us yammer on about our agenda for their lives, when all they want is
to be fed! It’s hard to ask people to listen to guidance when they’re hungry. Do you ever make
that mistake, missing opportunities to really make a difference in the life of another person
because you’re in the way? I learned a lot about myself that Christmas and I don’t think I’ll
forget the little 7 year old child’s words to me…forget the toys, Lady…I’m hungry!