Room at the Inn

Last night I volunteered with Room at the Inn. This is a homeless ministry that area churches in Lexington participate in for the winter months. Food and shelter are provided for homeless men. I signed up to cook dinner with one other person, which also meant serving dinner to the men and eating with them. I did this last year and was extremely nervous about the eating part. What do I possibly have to say to a group of homeless men? The same went for this year. Cooking dinner was fine- despite the fact that I am a cook in the making=) But it was eating dinner that I was nervous about.

Shortly before heading over to the church, I was on the phone with David expressing to him my concerns. His advice: be yourself and don't feel like you have to say anything- the reality is that they probably have wealth of wisdom that I simply don't have. So I head off to church with a simple prayer in my heart- Lord, please help me to be myself. Dinner was cooked, the men were served, and I finally got up the nerve to grab my plate and just sit down at the table. After a few minutes of silence, the man sitting across from me opened the door for conversation. We probably talked for a good 20 to 30 minutes. He told me personal things about being homeless- not specifically why he was in the situation, but the general gist and how he wanted to move forward. I felt the Holy Spirit at the table with us and I encouraged this man to continue forward and to hold onto the hope that we don't have to live in our pasts. He asked me about why I was in Kentucky and what I wanted to do with my life. As I got up to go help with the dishes, he stopped me and encouraged me. He expressed to me his gratitude that I had a passion to work with kids and encouraged me as I continued forward with this ministry goal.

It was an incredible night. I walked out of church last night with such an excitement overflowing from my heart. The Lord taught me an important lesson last night. He reminded me that He uses the weak to guide the strong. I don't think I have strength, but society would see this man as the weak one and me as the strong one- if only because of economic status. But the truth is that I probably received more that I gave last night. The Lord also reminded me that we should be excited about our participation in Kingdom service. I'm so grateful that the Holy Spirit prompted me to sign up to cook dinner last night! Truly for me it wasn't about the actual food we cooked, but by the spiritual food that that homeless man gave to me without even realizing it...

In His Mercy.