Reality Check

I was in my Church’s bathroom before the service tonight and I overheard a conversation that stopped me dead in my tracks.

Our Church was the week-end sponsor for families being taken care of by CARITAS-a Richmond based organization providing food and shelter to Richmond area homeless.

A woman and her teen-age daughter walked in, and they were so excited to see the number of stalls that our church had in the bathroom…and how clean they were.  They were thrilled that they would be able to “get ready tomorrow” in these bathrooms.  Mind you, this is just a bathroom.  You know…toilets and sinks….no showers nothing fancy.  But they were excited to have such facilities for their personal use.  These women continued in their enthusiasm to see the amount of toothpaste, deodorant and shampoo samples that had been provided to them by our church for them to use.   They remarked to each other how much room they would have to clean up that night and to not have to share with other families.

I had no words.  I just felt humbled and convicted.  I was humbled that I am so accustomed to having my most basic needs met on an everyday basis and convicted that I don’t appreciate these things….little things….like a shower, lights, a warm bed to sleep in, food on the table and shelter over my head.

This week-end, our church gave the gift of providing these families with the most of basic human needs.  But tonight, these ladies provided a gift and they didn’t even know it.   What was their gift?  It was a dose of reality that I have much to appreciate in this life.  Tonight, I was reminded and that is a gift.

–  Sharon Kinter, 19-Oct-2010

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