Food
The Oxford American Dictionary defines food as “any
substance that can be  taken
into the body of an animal or plant to maintain its life and growth”.
Yep, that can mean a donut, piece of Lady Godiva chocolate, bag
of Doritos, or a piece of German chocolate cake. As our holiday
season nears, it probably will include yogurt-covered pretzels,
pumpkin pie, turkey & all the dressing, cranberry delights,
Christmas sugar cookies, popcorn balls, cheese and sausage balls,
and all kinds of casseroles. Man, is my mouth beginning to water.
Yummy! Whether we are good cooks and spend hours in the kitchen
to make that recipe “just right” or buy that specialty
from a store, we know how good it will taste. And we know we will
probably put on some unwanted pounds. But it will be worth it, because,
after all, it is the holidays and it tastes great.
Then, if the Holy Spirit convicts me as HE always seems to do around
this time of the year, I find myself thinking about the less fortunate.
You know them. You see them everywhere. Now, you may turn your head
so you don’t  have
to look in their eyes or you may change the channel as an infomercial
comes on the tv requesting money for children in Appalachia or suggests
you visit the elderly in nursing homes. But, dear friends, I’m
asking you to ALLOW YOURSELF to FEEL for the less fortunate. Allow
yourself to feel and to SERVE them. What a wonderful joy will fill
your heart when you do. There are many local soup kitchens that
need food donations and volunteers to cook and serve meals. Almost
every church accepts new or nearly-new toys for neighborhood children.
Why, look at two great organization, Toys for Tots and the Salvation
Army. Grocery stores and restaurants often have collection boxes
for those who may have lost a home due to a house fire. A few years
ago, a wonderful spiritual leader I know asked me to ring the bell
for the Salvation Army at a store. Me? Ask people for money? No
way! No way at all! But His Spirit convicted me again and I did.
And it was wonderful!
There are so many opportunities for us to give. So many. Please,
look around. One organization dear to my heart is the Soup Kitchen
in Yorito, Honduras. There, for almost 3 months now, the local
church, Cruzadas, has been serving a meal a day for 6 days each
week to the children and elderly poor. Actually, no one is turned
away. Dear friends, Jesus turned no one away; He did not look
the other way; nor did He fail to feed the crowds. I believe WE
should feed the crowds too. It makes no difference if it is a
“crowd” of 1 or of 100. Food. That substance which
maintains life & growth. Jesus, who maintains our life and
gives us growth. I humbly ask you, please.
If you would like to donate to the Honduras soup kitchen (in
various cities in Honduras), please email me or Dr Tom Camp. If
you would like to bake a pie for that neighbor and her 4 children
who just lost their husband and father, do that. Or if you feel
Jesus is leading you to distribute toys to the Angel tree recipients,
then please do. What JOY there is in giving! And look what our
Heavenly Father gave us. He gave us the best food on the planet.
He gave us His only Son.
Linda
LMMT4@yahoo.com |
