Evidence of love.
Sometimes we can get so busy just doing what we do at Shower and Laundry Shuttle, that we kind of fall into a routine. Not ungrateful for our incredible calling, but perhaps not exactly looking for, or immediately aware of the blessings all around us. In that, we confess we are human.
Since the first of the year, we have increased our schedule and are also doing more to share the ministry with others in the community. We have a newly redesigned website, uniforms, business cards, and we are on a learning curve to bring more awareness … as a completely donation-based organization, this is imperative to our continued ability to Restore Hope and Dignity to Those in Need and to fight the good fight against poverty and homelessness.
So, understandably, we might be a little weary and a tad distracted. How very grateful we are that our tired eyes were opened to just how very necessary this ministry is and how very much we are loved!
It was a Wednesday morning and I was running a bit late with the Shower Shuttle, taking her to the Vine House where we provide showers to the west side of Modesto. The traffic was heavy and two lanes merge into one on the south end of Yosemite Boulevard, and I was focused on traffic. Coming up fast on my right side, honking and waving was a woman in a white van. But she wasn’t honking and waving because she was being rude…she was pointing at the Shuttle and giving me thumbs up, smiling and nodding and telling me in sign language “good job!” and “you’re appreciated!” and I smiled and waved back.
Later that day, I went into the house to say hello to everyone as they were serving coffee and toast, pastries and mail to the neighborhood as they do every Monday and Wednesday; and one of their regular volunteers asked if I had a moment to talk.
“Sure,” I said. Our two employees and a volunteer were more than able to handle the showers and so I had time.
“I wanted you to know I have been praying for your ministry,” he said. “My life is really hard right now and I know that what I’m going through is nothing compared to what most of your guests go through all the time. It hit me that I should pray for them instead of worrying about how bad things are, and it really helped me to get outside myself. And I’m going to continue to pray for all of you. I just wanted you to know that.”
“Wow…thank you!” I said to him, awed by his transparency.
We talked a while more, and I let him know how very special his prayers are to us. When someone takes time out of their own messy life to pray for us and our guests, AND takes the time to share with me … that’s not a little thing and my heart was moved.
As I was leaving the house to go back outside to the Shuttle, I had to go past the man from Insect IQ, the exterminator company contracted to spray for bugs at the house. I overheard the conversation he was having with the head of the House as they talked about a change to his schedule because of the Shuttle’s Wednesday presence.
“I’m sorry,” I told him. “We’re kind of messing up your schedule today, aren’t we?” I asked him.
“Not at all,” he said with a kind smile. “What you’re doing is much more important. I’ll just come on another day to finish spraying,” he said, apparently not bothered in the least about any inconvenience our presence may have caused him.
Wow, I thought. That doesn’t happen! I expected an eye roll or a heavy sigh at the very least … not the understanding and compassion we received, especially when I knew we had made his workday more complicated.
I went back out into the beautiful sunshiny day and felt a bit sunshiny inside as well.
I noticed the smiles and the easy, laid-back atmosphere of people grateful for a shower and those that were patiently waiting for their turn. I began to recognize (again) just how privileged and blessed we are to be welcomed and accepted, to be able to offer such a needed service and just how special that really is.
A bit later, one very special couple stopped by on their bicycles to say Hi. They are both clean and sober and off the streets and doing well … they wanted to say thank you for all we did for them when they needed us, and their hugs and smiles warmed my heart.
James came by before going to work to say Hello and use the clippers and get a quick shave. He’s always happy and smiling, a kind man who used to help us set up when he was in need of the showers. Now he’s employed and housed and doing well, and we are grateful to be part of his story.
And then, when I hopped into the shuttle to clean the stall between guests, I found this heart drawn in the condensation in the mirror; sweet evidence of love and gratitude.
Yes, LORD, I am awake! The sweet comments and prayers, the hugs, the smiles, the encouragement, and the lady in the white van…double-barreled shotgun blasts of love and reminders that we ARE making a difference in the lives of those in need!
I remembered back before I retired, when I was working nights in the ER. I used to cry every night on my way to work, begging for a job in ministry and praying for the LORD to hear and answer my prayer. And He has done so much more than I was even able to comprehend or imagine!
We ARE blessed and we ARE loved, because we bless them and love them; obeying the call to which we have been called. We have the privilege of bringing them the opportunity of consistent hygiene and clean clothes; basic human rights that aren’t readily available when someone lives in poverty and homelessness, with amazing machines that are truly God-inspired. We get up every day and walk in our blessings and receive the hugs and the smiles and the gratitude from those we serve. Our sacrifices are nothing compared to the joy we have in knowing that the ripple effects of kindness and compassion are making huge differences in the lives of others.
What Can You Do?
Join me in prayer, won’t you? That those in the midst of poverty and homelessness begin to make their way out. That they take the hand up that we are providing and use our services as a way to make a better life for them and their children. We have seen it often with our Shower Shuttles … may it also be so with the Laundry Shuttle.
Support our work.
As a local non-profit (501C3), we depend on support from people just like you. Give a gift today and help us in our mission to continue restoring hope and dignity to those in need with both mobile showers and laundry … and know we will continue as long as there is a calling for us to do so.
“This is love, that we walk according to His commandment. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.” 2 John 1:6