Volunteers
Volunteers are the foundation of LIHN. There are many ways that you, as a member of the community can volunteer to help. As a LIHN volunteer, whether you prepare a hot meal, read to or tutor a child, help a parent write a resume, stay overnight with guests, help in the LIHN office, or drive the LIHN van, you will make a difference in the lives of families that have suffered the loss of their homes.
Contact our Director/Social Worker at director@lihnmc.org for more information.
How to Fix a Really Bad Day
By Stephanie Olson
"Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For whatever measure you give out to others, it will be given to you in return."
-- Luke 6:38
This is one of my life verses and being a part of our LIHN church team over the past several years has made this verse real in my life. Offering my time and some food to meet the needs of families who are homeless has blessed me far more than I have given. I appreciate this opportunity to share how God has worked this in my life over the past several years of volunteering for LIHN.
During each week when it was our congregation's turn to meet the needs of a homeless family, I would sign up to cook a dinner meal for our guests. One to two weeks ahead, I would select a night that worked in my schedule. No one forced me to select the night to serve, it was my choice. Yet, EVERY time, when that day arrived, I was in a VERY bad mood, feeling stressed, tired and over-booked. But, I would honor my pledge, buy some food, take it to the church, put it in Nescos to cook, and come back at 5:30 to do final prep and serve the hot dinner to our guests..
Because I was having such a BAD day, I would go in feeling very grumpy and sorry for myself. I would sulk as I finished the meal preparations. But then I would begin to serve the meal and this was where God would work His miracle in my life, EVERY time. God would let me see:
- A man carefully cutting chicken, potato and green beans into bite size pieces for his 3-year-old daughter and feeding her each bite to making sure she ate a balanced meal of meat, beans and potatoes before he went to get a plate of food for himself. I had to save a serving of chicken, beans, and potatoes for him because he fed his child first. He was very patient with his toddler and the child was very good, amazing in such a stressful situation. He gave her needed attention and let her have as much time as she needed to eat. He was a big man and I saved a quarter chicken and large potato for him, but when I offered this to him he initially declined, thinking he was taking too much. Then I watched him hungrily clean the plate.
- A 12-year-old girl making sure her three younger siblings each got a full plate of food and carefully making a plate for her mother (who is working late at her new job) before serving herself.
- Childrens eyes go wide as they REALLY enjoyed and came back for seconds on simple but real food like roasted chicken, green beans or peaches on ice cream.
- A young man amazed at how good 'real' food can taste and coming back for seconds on a sandwich or chicken.
And, by this, God blessed me as I saw that really, I was giving so little. I felt so blessed to, in my own small way, offer small help to people who are being stressed in ways I have never come close to personally experiencing. And as I gave, I got back in return, good measure, packed down and overflowing, was poured into my lap. My heart was warmed by their appreciation of my simple cooking. I saw real people who just needed a temporary but safe place for their children. People who needed help for a while, a chance for a second chance. People who, for whatever reason, did not have money and needed a respite from the demands of an American culture that does not know how to live without money. And in all this I was blessed. My bad day disappeared and as I fed those in need, I was fed, filled, blessed by those the world would say have nothing to give.