three years ago i stole an idea from another church and helped launch love week at crossroads. this year we were back at it again. for my little family, years past have led us to year round serving at our local food pantry, sparked a passion for blessings in a back pack (entering it's 3rd year as well), and given us a bit bigger hearts for those around us.
this year during love week my dear hubby logged many hours for his non-profits. the kids and i headed out to the convent for some waffles and games with my tweens ministry. we served our regular time at the neighborhood center food pantry where we had 48 families come through that night. the kids wrote letters to some dear widowed friends. but i kept asking God for a vision for something new to do.
my precious daughter had mentioned wanting to bake cookies to hand out to people. knowing another group was doing that same thing for people in our downtown i kept the thought tucked away. well, as we were driving through town one evening i noticed a motel full of migrant workers and let's just say - God gave me the vision. in my community, i can't say these workers are treated with much kindness and respect, but they work hard each day, couldn't we show them kindness? but how on earth were we going to bake over 300 cookies?
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my parents were in the city with my boy so i sent them to gordons to pick up 3 boxes of cookie dough. my wonderful mama offered to bake one box. the girl and i headed over yesterday to bake the other 2. (we don't have air and don't use our oven on 90+ degree days!) anyways....by 4 pm we had baked, plated, and bagged up 36 bags of cookies! i called up a friend from church that works with migrant worker kids and asked if she could meet us at the motel to help translate. she was thrilled and offered to introduce us to several families.
so last night the kids and i delivered our cookies. now, can i just say how completely overwhelmed and humbled i am. we knocked on the first door and a young boy answered. he was so excited to see his "teacher" but quite excited to be offered a plate of cookies. we met 3-4 families. all full of joy and gratitude. did i mention it was near 100 here yesterday? we met a 14 year old girl who is now working with her parents. when i asked if it was hot, she just smiled and said yes, then went on talking about other things.
then we entered their food bus. i'd never seen anything like it. 2 buses were parked out back and had been set up as a kitchen. again, NO AIR, no breeze and it was still 90 degrees outside. they smiled as they cooked for their families and others. each one thankful and touched by our gift of free cookies.
we headed over to the motel across the street. we had no connections there, but were met with immediate smiles and a lady that had set up a meal on the sidewalk. people just came by and served themselves. we were leaving her several plates of cookies for those that were coming by. a few teens above asked if they could have some and came running down to get them. they were visibly shocked when i handed them a couple of bags and ran off shouting thanks! there were some younger kids playing nearby. they were thrilled as well to be offered a FREE plate full of cookies.
here's what struck me:
- my kids complained all day about being hot
-i complained all day about the heat
- i told both my husband and my father it was too hot for them to mow on riding mowers
- i refused to turn my oven on and went to the comfort of my parents home with AC
- not a single worker complained of being hot
- they were smiling as they stood over hot stoves in the hot outside preparing meals for their families
-they were washing their laundry and hanging it to dry
-they had worked ALL DAY OUTSIDE!
- they were all smiling
-each family shared a single motel room
i know my kids were a bit taken back. i know i have an even greater passion for these workers. i know my community tends to look down our noses at them. but they leave their homes and come north to work for little pay, stay in motels we would never dream of staying, and get very little thanks in return. they work in heat all day long and again, when we would comment about it they never hinted at complaining.
i was blessed to meet those families last night. i hope that they know we value them. and God has already planted a little vision for next summer:)
*i did take a picture of my kids leaving cookies in the food bus, but i promised i would keep it private!
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