Well today is Haywood Street Congregation day and I have been there and enjoyed it as usual. The Clothes Closet was full of workers and shoppers. I met a woman, Marie, who has been working there for 4 years and is from Waynesville. She runs a tight ship when she is there and keeps things organized. Also I met another woman from Hendersonville who usually works the kitchen but had surgery last week, can't lift, and decided to serve in the Clothes Closet. She is a nurse by profession. I don't know what Marie did for a living, but I believe she is retired now. Lora was back, of course, and is such a lovely young woman. Shoppers today were looking for shorts which were in "short" supply, forgive the pun. Hopefully we'll get more in as the weather warms. T-shirts are needed also, for men and for women. I have to admit a little concern I have for the one or two shoppers who brought huge plastic bags, larger than regular garbage bags, and filled them up. It left little for other people when they came back a second time. I don't know how you limit things, but we only provide grocery size bags so they are bringing them in on their own. The many cloth bags I brought in today were gone in a hurry. They are much needed.
Lunch was curried chicken, wild rice, peas with mushrooms, mustard greens from the church garden, cornbread, and white cake with white icing and chocolate chips. It was well received. I sat with one of the young police officers who comes to the dining hall every week. He is probably 6'4" or 6'5" and looks like Denzel Washington. I wish I had Dianna here to introduce them. He is delightful and it is plain that he cares about the men and women around us in the hall. I also sat with a woman who said she had only been homeless lately. She is an architect. She was more tanned than the average person, all the homeless are. They are out in the sun as much as Ken is. Hats are hard to come by. I think I'll go through my hats. She lived in Key West until 12 years ago when she moved to Asheville. She asked me if I had ever met a homeless architect. Over the din of noise in the dining hall I told her no. I hope I see more of her there. I know there is much more to her story that I'd like to know. She is Kenn's age.
The sermon today was from Acts and was about Tabitha, also known as Dorcas or Gazelle. A well dressed man in a suit behind me was asked to read. It turns out in the last 2 weeks he's had a heart attack and is back out in the world again. I'd guess he is a lawyer or a banker by his suit, one of the unlikely members of Haywood Street. There are no likely members I guess.
Anyway Tabitha was a widow and a disciple. There is no other woman noted as a disciple in the Bible. She died and they sent two men to get Peter who was in Lydda nearby. He came quickly. The widows and saints of the church showed him tunics and other clothes that Tabitha had made and said that she could not be dead, please, no. Peter sent them out of the room and knelt by her bed, prayed, and said, "Get up." Tabitha did and many came to believe in Jesus and his teachings and his resurrection because of her healing. Brian asked about the role of women in the church. There were not many responses. He said that after a young minister is ordained and they put a stole around his neck he is told he is a United Methodist Woman. Really? Brian was now a woman. That is true. The ministers of churches belong to the UMW just as the women do. Wherever there is a church doing God's mission there are many active women. That is true too.
Now there is much more to the story of Tabitha the woman disciple. On the front of the bulletin was a woman in a big arm chair knitting. Brian told the story as if she was a knitter. He passed around a hand knit shawl through the congregation for people to touch it and bless it. Then he explained what being a widow in the days of Luke meant. A widow was not only not married, but she had no father-in-law and no brother so she was totally vulnerable. Tabitha had organized the other widows in the church in Joppa to make clothes and sell them and care for themselves. When he finished asking the congregation about what they found significant in the story he asked where the shawl was. It had made it through about 3/4 of the congregation. He took it and gave it to Shannon who asked for a member of the congregation, an older woman, to stand up and she put the shawl around her and told her how special she was. She was overwhelmed and her smile lit the whole church.
Max Lucado often says that we have a Lord, a God, who loves to surprise us and then likes to be present with us when we are so He can enjoy it. I think God was at Haywood Street every week I've been and He's gotten to enjoy a lot of people enjoying His surprises.
On another note there were many praises during prayers for many who had gotten housing. I was humbled by the number and by the mere fact that they were so ecstatic to get what I have always taken for granted.
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