Making The Heart Glad

This is a true story, it happened in our church this past Sunday.


A couple, who had a vision of helping the poor and homeless, have increasingly given their life, time, energies and everything they could muster to help the needy in our community, especially needy women. They serve tirelessly throughout the year and are much beloved by those they work with and minister to.

Sitting in the church service, with everyone else, they watched the youth produce a skit: a couple kids in outdoor hats walk in then sit down around what is obviously meant to be an outside fire…trying to keep warm. A couple more kids come in, this time well-dressed girls with nicely styled hair, carrying large well-stuffed shopping bags. Pretty much oblivious and chattering away about their social schedule, they are followed by two more shoppers with large shopping bags.

These two are coming home from their shopping trips and stop to remark with pity about the two poor souls trying to warm themselves, and then move on cheerfully speaking to each other about how they will pray for them.

Finally, Enter stage right…. two more shoppers, this time they stop look at each other … then pull from their shopping bags brand new blankets. Very nice looking blankets. They come along the two needy people throw the blankets over their shoulders… and sit along side them arms across their shoulders, giving not only physical warmth of blankets, but emotional warmth of friendliness.

Skit over, everyone claps. The moral is well-given and well-taken.

But wait…. as the pastor says a few remarks about the couples ministry that the skit has exemplified, soon in comes a stream of middle and high schoolers…. each carrying. Yes, you guessed! A myriad of brand new blankets, first throwing over the couples shoulders then piling in a huge mound of blankets around them, all meant for giving out in their ministry to the poor and needy.

By now, we are all overcome, and the pastor announces how through the year the youth has worked on gathering together these blankets, and a slide show shows how many were hand made in projects through out the year. It’s beautiful…but wait…

As soon as she overcomes the tears and can talk, there is the revelation of how much this is needed this year, and how difficult it was to have to turn away those who called with needs because there just wasn’t enough. But now… an overflow in the nick of time…. cold weather is coming, and many families with needs for blankets are going to get those needs filled. Lovingly, caringly, with simplicity and humility.

It was enough to make the coldest heart grow warm again with the renewed illustration of how just a little good given individually adds up to something that really makes a difference. And how encouraging it is to see everyone pitch in to minister to a hurting world.