Highlights of my day…
Thursday, 22 April 2010
On Tuesday night, just before sleep, I asked David what the highlight of his day had been. He said it was a conversation he had had that evening with a couple who came to the meal at the Open Hands Unit: a precious and very honest conversation about the past, about alchoholism, about life.
My highlights (I couldn’t pick one, it had to be two!)were also connected to Open Hands: one was the look on a lady’s face as she finished a morning at the Unit having volunteered for the second time and, despite her own very real problems, was glowing, having helped two young, vulnerable girls to knit. In herself she was sensing her confidence being restored and joy returning. My second highlight was also from that morning’s session: the look on a wonderful Zimbabwean asylum seeker’s face as she tried on some beautiful new clothes and was treated with real dignity by a volunteer (incidentally, also struggling that morning with health problems). The guest we know to be really bowed down with worry about family back home and status here, but for those moments, the sun shone through in her face.
More and more, I wonder truly, who is the one who gains in our work with “the poor”?
Whenever I volunteer, heaven touches my life in some way, and I really meet Jesus in the face of the people I am able to help.
What an incredible and life changing privilege.For those of us on Open Hands Unit, hamper, furniture and meal teams, it is a great opportunity for us to give, but often we get so much in return. It impacts our own relationship with Jesus, and in the process we regularly have our hearts softened and broken.
Love from Susan x
P.S. Want to join us? It’s fun!!! Why not email Sue Smout for an initial conversation about where you might fit in?