When you’re homeless, chances are you carry all of your worldly possessions in a backpack. If you’re lucky, you have a place to store or stash some extra things. All too often, everything you own gets stolen, ruined by foul weather, or thrown away by city or park employees.
After over 37 years in ministry, I never cease to be affected by the gratitude of the people we serve when we give them the simplest of things. When was the last time you were really grateful for a clean pair of underwear, dry socks, a warm coat, shoes with no holes in them, a book bag or a blanket?
I have probably seen this tremendous gratitude for such small things over 1,000 times, but it still makes me think about the material things I really NEED in this life; clothes on my back, food on my table, a roof over my head, and the tools I need to help support my family. Everything else is a WANT.
Our youth and adult volunteers learn this lesson as well. One of the things teens take away from their involvement with TOP is an appreciation of their material blessings. For some, the experience of dealing with people who have so little is life-changing. They develop a thankful heart. And a thankful heart often becomes a generous heart.