Yesterday I joined Reality Changers as they joined Solana Beach Presbyterian Church's youth on a trip to Ladle Fellowship at First Presbyterian Church in San Diego. I urge you to find a way to serve at Ladle Fellowship at least one time. If you can't serve at Ladle Fellowship, there is probably a group that feeds the homeless in your area. Don't wait like me. I realized that the last time I had been to Ladle Fellowship was probably 1989 - 20 years ago! Our son is now in college and that was before he was born. WOW!
Stew Montgomery led our group and drove the "party bus" down to First Pres. Thanks, Stew! Last Sunday I searched on Twitter for Ladle Fellowship. I thought I could visit as my wife was in the desert for her "Teacher's Away Mission"(nod to Stargate SG-1) with several women from work. I found HEADSPARKS* had tweeted about his impending trip to Ladle Fellowship and asked about it. He said that you had to ask in advance for permission to come so I figured I would do it in the near future. Last Wednesday night I was at Reality Changers and they were making plans to volunteer at two different events on the weekend. They said they were going to feed the homeless on Sunday and since my wife would be visiting family I decided to go if my schedule was open. It was and I did. I'm really glad I did, too.
I chose to serve as a line monitor. I like to talk to people and I definitely did some of that. I met a young man named Reiner who is part of Solana Beach Pres.'s youth group. He took the end of the line and I was at the front. The people we were helping were in line for clothing and stuff like sunscreen or shavers and the like. As he and I were talking briefly about musical styles we liked, I mentioned that although I only liked a little bit of country (like Johnny Cash), I had heard of what many consider to be the #1 country song of all time, "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by George Jones. One Saturday afternoon I was missing my dad, who was a country music fan, and flipped through the channels and found the end of the countdown on the country music channel. I listened to the words of this song for the very first time and realized that it was really moving. I can get choked up just by telling people about it. Because I actually listened to the lyrics I realized that this was about a guy who loved a woman for his entire life, even after they were divorced. The real grabber is that you realize that the reason the songwriter says that "he stopped loving her today" is because this is the day of his burial. Oh. My. My.
As I was relating this to Reiner a lady in a wheelchair started to tell me about how painfully aware she was of the meaning of the "he stopped loving her today". As we talked I found out that her name is Deborah and her husband James passed away a few months ago. She can no longer stay in the house where they lived (I assume they were renting) and now she's not only in a wheelchair, but she is homeless and a widow. She and I talked on and off while I kept an eye on the line. Because she was in a wheelchair, she couldn't fit in the line. Ladle Fellowship has come up with rules for all kinds of contingencies as they've been doing this since 1983. In the case of someone who can't sit in the chairs that constitute the line, they had me give a piece of paper with a number on it to the last person in line at the time that someone in a wheelchair showed up. There's a twin to that piece of paper with the same number on it that I give to the person who can't fit in the line. That way, everyone seems to understand that they are being treated fairly and the person in the wheelchair isn't perceived as cutting into line.
After Deborah reached the front of the line, she and a friend made their way to the food which was reaching the end of its line and there wasn't as much selection at that point, but at least they got some soup and bread. She said it was more important for her to get the clothing than the food on this particular day. When all the volunteers were cleaning up there came a point when Deborah and her friend were done eating and she waved goodbye. We had talked about more than I have shared here and I feel like I know just a little bit more about her than I do most of the people who came to get fed yesterday. I expect that I'll have mixed feelings if she's there again the next time I visit Ladle Fellowship. I suppose that's even more true if she's not there next time I go.
Of course, our line for clothing was just one thing going on yesterday. The main reason people come is for the food. You can click here or on the title of this post to visit Ladle Fellowship's website and find out more.
For those of you who pray, please pray for Deborah and all who served or were being served at Ladle Fellowship.
Keep walking!
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