The Peanut Butter Project

In my own little world it hardly ever rains
I’ve never gone hungry or always felt safe
I got some money in my pocket
Shoes on my feet
In my own little world
Population me

I try to stay awake
Through the Sunday morning church
I throw a twenty in the plate
But I never give ’til it hurts
And I turn off the news
When I don’t like what I see
It’s easy to do when it’s
Population me

This is a new song by Matthew West. I heard it the other day on the radio and it struck a chord. Then I saw this;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2oi6y292kE

I have always had a heart for giving. I love to give and without Levi, I often think I might give too much, more than what God would call me to and more than a wise person should. Levi keeps me grounded. But in thinking about my heart for giving and all of the people I see around me hurting and suffering SO much more than I do and seeing how blessed I am and my family is I can't help but think there has to be more. More that I can do. More ways to demonstrate God's love to the people around me. More ways to reach out beyond my comfort zone and to really feel the stretching and growing that the Lord has in his perfect plan for my life.

God gave me an idea... and yes I know it sounds super spiritually cooky to say God told me to but, he did. I prayed for an idea, for something that would grow me and show me just how blessed I am and God said Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches! I decided that every time (or at least most of the time) I go into town to do whatever shopping I have for that day I will pack a sandwich and a note (I even added a bag of dog food) for a homeless person. I see them every time I go shopping. Standing on the street corners with their signs that read "Hungry", "homeless" or just "please help". I always smile as I pass but I never give them anything. When God said give them sandwiches I thought "really?" but I don't really know why. How easy is it to give someone a sandwich when they are hungry? So I packed the sandwich and made a note with John 3:16 on it and a little "we're praying for you". Then I let Lincoln color a picture on it as I explained to him what we were going to start doing. His response caught me off guard. I've already started passing on the complacency of not giving and not noticing those that need help. Linc repeated, in shock, "those people don't have food?!". "Yes son" I told him and then I explained the painful state of our world and the millions of people who go hungry to which Linc responded "I'll give them my food". Yep, with such childlike innocence Lincoln solved world hunger. We can just give them some of our food. We loaded into the car with our list of errands and our sandwich. At our last stop I spotted a homeless man in his late 50s standing on the corner waiting. I parked the car so that Lincoln could see me, locked the doors (because even I was a bit nervous) and walked the bag of food over to the man. As I walked towards him our eyes met and I could tell he was hurting. He took the bag and said "God bless you ma'am, I am hungry something else". It shocked me and caught me off guard. I guess I didn't really expect him to be hungry. I guess my judgmental hardened heart told me that he was just cheating the system and probably had cupboards of food stocked up in his home.. yes I knew he was "homeless" but I labeled him a liar even before I met him. I told him my son wrote him a note and he followed me over to the parking lot where he took a seat on the curb and opened the bag. I got in the car and drove off, Lincoln waved to him and as we drove away I watched him open Lincoln's note and smile the biggest most rewarding smile I have ever seen. Lincoln wanted to pray for him so we said a little prayer that God would watch over him and touch his heart and we went home. To our home. Full of food and clothes and warm cozy beds. To our home that overflows with stuff. And while our home has loads of love too I can't help but feel compelled to rid our lives of some of the stuff to make way for more love. The Peanut Butter Project was a success and will be a success as God's love is passed around through my son and through me. It's amazing what just one little sandwich can do! I encourage you to reach out to your Samaria. Open your eyes to the people around you and maybe even pack a sandwich the next time you go grocery shopping for the homeless in your community.