GRACE after a LONG DAY--

Our last several Men’s  Clothing  days have been  very very full.  We have been able to give clothes to about 150 men each time, but there are also many more who we have to say no to.  We simply do not have enough clothes nor  enough  energy to give  more.  What makes the day  especially draining is seeing so many who  we cannot help.  Through the whole day guys are asking us for a number so they can get clothes.  But from about 2:30 to 5:30  we had no more numbers to give.  This means from 2:30 to almost 6:00 we are “giving” to many AND “saying no” to many others. 

 This past Men’s Clothing Day had an added challenge of some who tried to “sneek” into the  clothing room  without a number, which meant we would have to physically escort some out of the clothing room area.  Then there was one who were drunk (seemingly) and tried to take clothes  (twice) from the basement  area  where  none are  supposed to go.  So, by 6:00 when we were serving the last men, we as a team were quite worn  out.

BUT, then one more guy was outside  asking for clothes at  about 6:15 as  we were cleaning up.  Since all other refugees were gone and I knew we had at least a few items left, I let him in and planned to wait for him to find clothes.  IN STEPPED a couple of our volunteers to help and  as they helped, they learned that the  wife was  with him and they had lost everything in Italy, so were wearing all that they had.

Our volunteers, after working a very long, busy, hard day, saw the need to show EXTRA GRACE,  and GO THE EXTRA MILE  and not only helped the man find clothes, they also helped the mother find clothes for herself and their small child.  It  was  so good to see  such an extra measure of GRACE extended by our faithful, though  certainly tired, volunteers!