Dont Quit Now that Holidays Are Over

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I would like to introduce you to one of the most caring ladies I have ever met.  Her heart of compassion is like none other!  Joy is a powerful speaker with a heart of gold.  I hope you will find Joy on twitter, fb, and her blog!!  Thanks Joy for posting with my blog!  I love you sister! She can be reached at www.joytrachsel.com

Six months ago I sat in church waiting to take communion. The pastor introduced the bread and the wine, explaining their significance and the importance of this most holy sacrament. I ate the bread, I drank the juice and was about to dispose of my cup until something stopped me. It was weird, it was unexplainable at the time…so I just threw the cup in my purse. Days later I was searching for something in my purse when I heard a strange rattle. It was my communion cup! I held the cup in my hand and just stared at this tiny little clear vessel. The Lord spoke to me at that moment. Now I knew why I couldn’t throw this cup away! The cup needed to be an important reminder to me.

I spend Monday through Friday at ACCESS Homeless Shelter for women. Friday at 4:00 pm I clock out, turn off my office light and leave for home. My weekends are full of fun activities, family events and yes…church on Sunday and once a month…communion. As I walk out that door, 45 people are left inside. Women and children who will spend another weekend at a shelter. Women and children who may not have the same opportunity to enjoy activities, family events and church. Many of our women profess a faith in Jesus…but because of their situation…cannot attend a church. They don’t get a chance to experience the blessed experience of partaking in communion with other believers.

To me…this little cup represents one more month that our shelter needs to exist. Oh how I wish we didn’t. How I wish we could “go out of business.” How I wish the 45 could be sitting with me at church!

Each month, after I take communion, I place the cup in my purse. Unfortunately, as the picture shows, six months have gone by and our shelter still needs to exist. The rattle in my purse has become louder.’

I want the rattle to end! I want homelessness to end for these women and children. I want brokenness to stop for them. I mostly want you and I to look upon their brokenness and do something. I am not even sure what that would look like.

December was a great month for ACCESS.  We had so many groups that wanted to volunteer, that we had to turn them away.  My office is so full of Christmas presents that we could not use I can barely open my door.  We are grateful for the generosity that is ignited in December…but we also know what is coming.  Once the holiday decorations are down and the last sip of eggnog is gone, we go back to the way things were pre-holiday.  Suddenly volunteers stop calling and donations drop off.  Suddenly it is famine and we long for the feast of December.

As you prepare to turn your calendar and embark on the New Year may I challenge you to keep compassion in your heart all year?  May I challenge you to allow your schedule to be inconvenienced for brokenness? May we each strive to be like Christ and live out the following scripture:

Luke 14:13

13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Joy can be found on FB, twitter, and on her blog www.joytrachsel.com.  Go see her yall!