Breaking Bread

This past Tuesday night, the Brooks, Sarah Dunn, Dwight and I shared dinner at the family shelter in Woodlawn with around 16 of its residents. Amidst the passing of homemade jambalaya, cornbread muffins, salad and Milo's sweet tea was the steady stream of conversation and laughter. 

Ms. Todd, the house manager who lives and works at the shelter, was sitting to my right. In between incoming calls from people inquiring about the shelter, she shared her life story with me and explained how she came to Woodlawn. I thought about all the faces she has seen come ago and all the stories she has heard, and I hoped that our weekly dinners at the shelter were a great encouragement to her. 

At the next table, Joel spoke with a family of five who had just arrived that day, and I wondered what change in life circumstances had brought them to the shelter's front door.

Sitting in a room full of people who most would consider the down and out, what struck me and humbled me the most is the irony of how alike we all are. Despite the fact these people would put their heads down in a homeless shelter while the rest of us would leave and drive to our respective homes, we are all broken, hurting people in desperate need of a Savior.

In his blessing, Dwight declared Christ as the one who gives all of us purpose on this earth. I've mulled that truth over and over again in my mind this week. Yes, it is Christ who is the great equalizer. He and He alone gives us purpose. Whether we are homeless or pay a mortgage each month, jobless or fully employed, Christ remains as the sole purpose for our existence. And, again I was reminded that it is because of Christ that we serve.

~Laura K. Womble