Do good to all men

 This past week I did something I had never done before. Our church had decided to take a turn at hosting the homeless in our town for a week. That entailed having the people come in the afternoon and staying until the next morning. We needed to have volunteers there (at least two) the whole time, provide meals, clean and watch for any potential problems.

  For most of the week I took the early morning shift so I got up at 4:40 am and quickly headed over to the church building to start my 5 am shift. It was pretty quiet at that time of day and I enjoyed being able to spend about an hour writing in my prayer journal and reading my Bible. I have been reading through the book of Proverbs but one of those mornings I just happened to flip to Galatians 6 and I read that as well. The words in that chapter really spoke to me.

  These verses especially:
"Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ" Galatians 6:2
"Let us not lost heart in doing good , for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith." Galatians 6:9-10

 I will be very honest with you, I had a lot of different emotions about helping out the homeless this week. Before they came there was some uneasiness over the unknown, I was not familiar with homeless people and I felt a little ill at ease, Also I have struggled with the question of why they were in that situation, was it bad choices or was it something beyond their control? Is it even the right thing to do, to take care of people so completely that they might not feel the need or desire to try to take care of themselves?

 I still don't have all of those questions answered but I do feel that this has been a growing week for me. I had so much fun getting to know the different people that came, I no longer feel uneasy or "scared" of homeless people. I realize that for the most part they are people just like me, simply with a different background and different situations.

 I was able to learn how to love them and enjoy helping them in the ways that I could. These verses reminded me that I need to help others and that doesn't mean living there life for them but simply living my life in a way that I show them God's love.

  I am so thankful for this opportunity that God gave to me (and many others) to grow.