The other day, I was collapsed on my couch after work when my doorbell rang followed by a thundering knock.
I went to the door and opened it. On my porch stood about five people with umbrellas. It was raining. They were from a church group, and they began by asking if I spoke English.
“Habla Inglés?” Someone asked in a very English-y Spanish.
When I said that I did, they announced that they were serving free pizza to the neighborhood on Jackson place. They then asked if I would like some free bread.
“Sure,” I said, accepting it.
In a bit of a daze I retreated to my kitchen where I’m afraid to say I checked the date on the bread packages. But not only were they not expired, they were special breads. One package was a pumpkin spice English muffin and the other was an Artesan style bread with thick slices.
Right at first, I almost took offense at the umbrella group, but then I thought, no, they did bless me. Perhaps I don’t need free bread, but truly I hardly ever get to the grocery store and it was actually quite nice. And it reminds me that nothing done in the name of Christ-which I believe this was- is ever a wasted effort.
And –just by being the recipient, just once– I realize how much it would mean to get free bread if you really needed bread.
And then I found this in the mail…
…and, what with my memories of the refugees and the newscasts about Hurricane Matthew, I thought, Do I really live in a country where we spend thousands of dollars on chocolate and wrapping paper for Christmas?
Not that those things aren’t fun and even worthwhile traditions. But most of us could probably pare back -or simply re-arrange-our Christmas gift list just a bit, and still make a global impact.
And if you ever wonder if your efforts to help are ineffective… remember the church group standing in the rain, giving free bread in the name of Christ to someone who didn’t need it, but was immensely blessed anyway.
***Think of a time you were blessed by someone. Prepare to share briefly in an upcoming drawing next week for Voices of Syria.
10 thoughts on “The Umbrella People”
Thank-you Katrina for taking of your time to share what God lays on your heart. I really needed this story as in ‘this moment’. Blessings as you walk life’s journey.
You’re welcome. It’s exciting to know God used these words in your situation.
We are being blessed in many ways right now. Our son died last week, and the outpouring of love is overwhelming. Nearly seven years ago we moved to New Zealand, where we knew no one, because we felt God wanted us here to help support his church here. Now, we’re expecting a couple of hundred people to come to his funeral, and many people have come every day since his death, to support us in any way they can. I am very humbled by this, and feeling ashamed that I have never known how to support people when they lost a loved one.
I’m very sorry about your loss! Thank you for being willing to share.
Work has been slow for me this year. Meaning that my income was lower than expected. My family loves eggplant and the other day a lady from the local food pantry called and said that they had a food drop and hardly anyone took any eggplant and she said we should come get some. She gave us four cases. We eat lots and froze some and then gave of our excess to friends.
What a cool story! Thanks for sharing.
A friend made a dress for me – totally flabbergasted when I received it in the mail today! A blessing indeed! I need to do like wise – but not a dress I’m afraid ????
That would be a real treat!
We were recently blessed with a gift of money in the mail from an anonymous giver. God continues to meet our needs every day! May we not just consume these blessings on ourselves, but use them for His Kingdom!
That’s awesome Lynelle!