It Never Ends

Yesterday, our little food ministry pantry at our church served 78 people.  That’s quite a lot for a little one-room pantry run by volunteers a few hours each week.  In fact, it was a record number of people in need of food that we served yesterday.  The supplies we received just a week to ten days ago ran out, and the shelves were very, very bare yesterday when they closed.

Today I went to the store and bought several hundred dollars worth of green beans, corn, peanut butter, canned chili, cereal, and other staples.  All was for our food pantry.  My pickup bed was covered, and there were sacks in the passenger seat when I left the store.  In the store, I had four shopping carts completely filled with case-lots of cans and boxes.  The check-out staff was very helpful, and they didn’t even ask if they could help me out!  The sacker hooked three carts together in a sort of train and pulled on the lead cart.  I took out two more carts.  It took four of us to move stuff from the carts to the truck.

After all of that, I was in my office and Rick came in.  We visited a bit, and then we talked about the pantry need.  I told him that this was one of those never-ending needs.  No matter how hard we worked, how much we contributed, how much food we bought, there would always be hungry people.  Especially toward the end of the month when food stamps and other services run out, people are hungry.

In one respect, that is a kind of a downer.  I have to realize that whatever we do will barely put a dent into the need; that all the food I brought from Dillons today will be gone by next week.  And still they will come.

In another, though, Jesus himself said that the poor we would always have with us.  He wasn’t being sarcastic or mean; he was just telling the truth.  As long as we are part of this world; this creation; this fallen existence, we will have the poor with us.

I like to be part of something where when I work on it, it eventually comes to completion and I can move on to something else.  Working in a food pantry will not be that type of work.  There will always be need.  There will always be those who are hungry.  There will always be someone coming to the door wanting food.  No matter how much and how long I work, it will never be enough.

It’s at times like this that I need to remind myself that I may not be able to do everything, but I can do something.  I can do my part.  I can make a difference for someone, even if not for everyone.  And that’s the key.  One person at a time.  One meal at a time.  One family at a time.  One sack of groceries at a time.  God doesn’t ask us to fix the world.  He’s working on that himself.  But he does ask us to partner with him in that work and do what we can with what we have available.

I was pleased I was able to do what little I did today for our food pantry.  I know there will be more need than we can possibly fill, but I also know that I helped just a little, and that the God who loves us all will take that little, along with the little of the other volunteers and contributors, and make it into something that is truly amazing.