An Afternoon With Brown Sack Bags

My friend Richelle had a brilliant idea of what we should do the next time we met up and that idea was to drive around until we saw a homeless we could give a sack lunch to.

{notes we put in each lunch bag}

Today, we acted on this idea and we embarked on our journey with 9 sack lunches in tow. Prior to leaving, we prayed that we would find some homeless and through the sack lunch, they would find love and hope that they are still great and worthy people and loved by others. An hour into our adventure, we were feeling discouraged. The local homeless we usually saw weren't in their usual places and after driving around for an hour and finding no one, we felt slightly hopeless. So trying to stay optimistic, we decided on a new goal: To give away every single bag to anybody - whether they were homeless or not.

Our first stop was at a bus stop where there were 3 people waiting for the bus. One man rejected our lunch and the other two people was an elderly couple. Boy, was it a blessing meeting the two. They were so filled with joy and happiness and they shared with us just a small snippet of their life. They told us about their sons, the school for disabled students where they work as volunteers, and how they bet on the Lakers or Celtics. It was truly inspiring to meet this couple as they gave us the encouragement we needed, just at the right time. It also inspired Richelle and I to do volunteer work even when we get older. The couple told us that for an hour of volunteering they only made about $2, but the money was the last of their concerns. During the time we talked, I don't think either Richelle or I, or even the two grandparents could stop smiling, because we all felt so blessed to have this encounter, even if it was only a brief, once in a lifetime meeting.

After that encounter, feeling blessed, inspired, and encouraged, everything seemed to fall in place. We found two local homeless, a mom who was walking with a young child in her stroller, and many construction workers who all accepted our sack lunch.

Today on, Richelle and I have made it our goal to meet and help the homeless. Also, instead of our unproductive, lazy days, we could be doing this. In this world, there is the bad, but let's not forget there is also the good, which is commonly overlooked. Simply talking to strangers, there's so much kindness and appreciation just within the conversation. I hope through this story, you are also inspired to the same. It's so simple to just get one of your friends, make a few lunch bags, and wander the streets of your local neighborhood. Today, rather than feeling like I helped others, I felt blessed to encounter the people I've met and lucky that God placed these people in my life just for a brief second. PTL for Richelle and her wonderful idea! (Read her post about this day: here)

{sorry this post is kind of lengthy, but i thought everything today was too awesome not to share!}