THANKSGIVING UPDATE

I have written and re-written this post several times.  I can't seem to get it right.  I'm so amazed at what God did here yesterday that it's really difficult to find the right words (and put them in the right order) to adequately describe what happened, and how I feel about it.  Noting I could say would add to, or subtract from, what happened in our community.  Perhaps bullets would be best:

• 700 plates we prepared and given out yesterday, the vast majority of them at the Annex, but 100 or so at Martin Trailer Park.
• Thank you to the dozens of people who worked for days to prepare enough food to feed all those people.
• Thank you to Rhonda Childers and Sherry DeCesare and their families, who are due honor from all of us for their leadership in making this happen.
• Thank you to Pastor Izzy and all of our brothers and sisters from Rio de Vida who broke down cultural and language barriers and wooed the crowd from the streets.
• Random thought:  A little vision goes a long way. I had an idea last Thanksgiving to do something like this.  It was not an original idea.  (BTW, most of my original ideas are never allowed to take place.  That's God protecting you from me, and me from myself). All of this was God's idea.  Proof of that is that MY idea wasn't this big.  Further proof is that I was panicked for the last three days that all this work would be done...and no one would show up.  Proof of that is that until about 11:30AM yesterday, I was pretty sure that I had failed and this event was a bust.  
• I am such a tool.  
• When HUNDREDS of hungry people began streaming through the door of the Annex, I felt very small.  How about you?  I saw MANY moved to tears, as we saw God move in our community.
• The majority of people who came to eat yesterday came from across the street.  That beautiful neighborhood filled with so many beautiful people.  People living in a strange culture where they are reviled by most Americans when they're not being used as cheap labor.  People living on the edge of an existence where poverty would be a step up.  Beautiful people, with beautiful smiles.  

The big take-away from all of this is all the PEOPLE.  God loves PEOPLE so much.  He loves those who SERVED and He loves those who came to BE SERVED.  So many people.  Oh, thank you God that we get to do life together in this way!  Serving God is a privilege.  

I want to hear YOUR takeaway from Thanksgiving @ the Annex.  Post your comments here.

Peace.