Packing Extra

My daughters and I had many conversations like this one last school year, and as we prepare to start the new year, I can’t help but think we’ll have them again:

Wednesday: “M didn’t have a lunch today, Mama. She said her dad told her not to get a tray at school because he’s not going to pay the bill. She said she forgot to make it. I gave her my candy bar and she hugged me and told me thank you.”

Thursday: “M didn’t have a lunch again today. I guess she forgot again. I feel bad since she can’t get a tray.”  “Is this the same girl who didn’t have lunch last week?” I ask. “No, Mama, that’s N. She has lunch this week, so I guess they were able to go to the store.”  “I guess I should start packing extra for M—I feel bad for her.”

“Does anyone know she doesn’t have a lunch, like a teacher or someone else?” I ask, thinking maybe someone at school should know and perhaps try to find out what’s going on.

But it really doesn’t matter if they know.

What matters is that I know.

There are children at my daughters’ lunch table who sometimes don’t have food to eat. Is it possible they have dead beat parents? Yes. Is there a chance they don’t know about the free and reduced lunch program? Yes. Could the kids sometimes just forget to make their lunches? Yes. Can these families not afford food? Possibly. Are these children taking care of themselves with little parental involvement? Could be.

I don’t need to know why they don’t have lunches—it really doesn’t matter. The point is I know there are children at the table who walk away hungry. I have to decide what I’m going to do with that knowledge.

And I think about my babies sitting at the table with nothing to eat. Maybe they had a rough morning and forgot their lunch boxes. Do they deserve to endure the long, hard school day with no sustenance because of a mistake? Would I want someone to look at my child with compassion, without judgment and offer a part of his meal?

We’re going to pack extra every day. We’re going to be ready just in case. We’re going to be the ones people know to go to if they don’t have quite enough. We’re going to provide the help someone needs.

Every day we meet people who don’t have enough. It’s not our job to judge the place they’re in or determine why they don’t have what they need. It’s our job to help, to lead them to Living Water, to give them the Bread of Life.

With knowledge comes responsibility.

That’s someone’s baby—that’s a soul in need of grace. And we have to decide what we’re going to do—see the need and walk away in self-righteous arrogance or pack extra, be willing to give what we so freely have received.

What about you? Is there an area in your life where you could pack a little extra for someone else? God will use you if you let Him. You could be the answer to someone’s lack, the answer to a mama’s prayer.

Join me in packing extra today—an extra smile, an extra encouraging word, extra grace—you never know whose life He’ll change; you never know when you’ll be the one needing extra.

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~ Philo

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.  ~Leo Buscaglia

‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ - Matthew 25:37-40 (NIV)

Linking with:

http://womenlivingwell.org/category/women-living-well-wednesdays/
http://internetcafedevotions.com/
http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/
http://thingsicantsay.com