I’ve told y’all all about my good man.
He’s not perfect. And we’ve had our fair share of Potato Soup fights.
(Our first fight ever was over potato soup. He liked my recipe so much, he kept going back to refill his bowl. I whined about not having any left from the double batch for lunch the next day, so he dumped the whole bowl in the trash. The fight ensued…)
(Yes, I won that fight!)
But fourteen years later, we are still best friends and I deeply respect him.
During the week, he spends a lot of time in his car driving to doctor’s offices. He’s a Pharmaceutical Rep and as a part of his job he provides lunch for the clinics.
One area of town, about 20 minutes from our house, is a lower-income area. There are homeless people under every overpass.
One day, my hubby rolled down his window and offered his own lunch to a homeless man.
He did it again the next day.
And again the next week.
He prayed with one desperate lady and encouraged a sad man.
And now on a regular basis, he pauses during his busy day, to make someone else’s. I was so proud. I told my kids about it.
Do you know what they said?
“Take us, Dad. We want to feed them too.”
And so we did. On Saturday. It was our One Day to Give for November.
We filled up two sacks with Chick Fil A chicken biscuits and we prayed. (And yes, I did get a sweet tea, just in case you were wondering.)
As one person after another came to our car window, I watched my children’s faces.
They looked closely. They listened intently. And they understood why their Dad feeds the homeless.
One man in particular touched us deeply. My hubby asked if he was hungry. He smiled and said, ‘yes, this is the first food I’ve had in two days.” His joy was evident. And so was his relief. (My hubby handed him my large cup of sweet tea too. Now that’s sacrifice! Do you think a cup of cold sweet tea given in Jesus’ name counts the same?)
On our way home, we talked with our kids. I knew this would be a day they would remember. “Do you have any questions?” I asked.
“Yes,” my son said. “If that one man is homeless, how did he get gold teeth?”
I explained that most people don’t start off homeless and we speculated some about his life. I said, “and for some, gold teeth are a fashion statement.”
My almost 9 year old fashionable daughter said, “Who would want gold teeth?”
My son raised his hand and said, “Me!”
During this wonderful week of Thanksgiving, take a moment to give. You’ll be glad you did.
