The holiday season brings to light so many opportunities to help those less fortunate.  For instance, the Salvation Army bells are ringing, many adopt a family for Christmas, and there is a huge spike in volunteers at soup kitchens across the country on Thanksgiving and Christmas day.  It is a time of year when us “fortunate” ones realize and are thankful for the many blessings we have, so we reach out in earnest to show our support and care and love for those that have less.

The holiday season may have come and gone, but the love showered on those less fortunate during the season won’t soon be forgotten.  Let’s take a glimpse into the lives of one of those families as they receive help during the holidays… There is a small family experiencing their sixth month of homelessness.  They live in a motel which is almost 100% occupied by other homeless families.  This family in particular has a mom and dad and a nine year old son.  The son, we’ll call him “Jacob,” was a delightful 3rd grader!  He was well known in his school having been only one of eight out of grades K-8 to receive an award as “Outstanding Citizen” by a local club last year.  As a result, the local club had this family on their radar to bless them during the holidays.

So, it was arranged to bring a holiday meal basket to the family.  The basket was brought to them about a week before the holiday.  It was hoped that by delivering early that the family wouldn’t have to worry how they were going to share in all of the bountiful delights on that special day.  The basket was overflowing with goodies, fresh fruit and vegetables, sweets and desserts and the prized holiday turkey with all the trimmings! Poetic pause, if I may?  So, think of this as a holiday riddle.  What’s wrong with this picture?  Okay, inherently besides the fact that a family with a young child being homeless, but what else?  Before I expound on my perception of what’s wrong, let me set your heart on the right direction.  A man once said to me, “Don’t just meet the needs, meet the people with the needs.”  WOW… say it with me, “Don’t just meet the needs, meet the people with the needs.”

Yes, it was a wonderful gesture of this club to remember this family with a young child during the holidays, a year later after having received his award!  That is a beautiful thing.  But until we become engaged in the everyday lives of those we hope to serve, how can we honor them and serve them?  I ask, what if… what if they didn’t just deliver the holiday meal, but asked them to join them for the holiday meal?  It is then that layers of the onion are peeled back to reveal some of the challenges of being a homeless family in a motel.

How many of us could have figured out the holiday riddle?  It is by sharing in the lives of this homeless family that we come to understand that there is no refrigerator to store the turkey in for a week.  And, even if there were, there is no oven in the hotel room to cook the turkey and the trimmings.

What the club did for the family was a blessing.  The family found dignity, honor and delight in being remembered by this local club.  Have no worries, the food didn’t go to waste.  They fired up the Barbie and grilled the turkey that day, still wondering how to make the upcoming holiday special for their sweet Jacob…

Dear friends, remember to continue to push beyond where you are comfortable.  I pray you open your hearts to the less fortunate and embrace them remembering, “Don’t just meet the needs, meet the people with the needs.”