"The third time He said to him, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?....Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.' Jesus said, 'Feed My sheep.'" (John 21:17)
Lauren is one of Hannah Rose’s best friends and has been for several years. She’s a sweet girl with wonderful manners and comes from a modest back ground. Her father works landscaping in the summer and odd jobs in the colder months, her mother works part time nights as a call in person for a cell phone company. Her family doesn’t own a car. This limits Lauren’s social opportunities and she is often home alone by herself. She has told us when she visits how much she enjoys dinner at the table with our family as often her meals are made in the microwave and eaten alone. It reminded me that besides the physical hunger people face sometimes there is a spiritual hunger that's integrally wound in the fabric of our human existence.
This year the girls started high school and we were troubled to hear from Hannah Rose that Lauren had missed so much school that her family had to go to court. We were further alarmed when Lauren fainted during band class and Hannah Rose overheard Lauren tell the band director she hadn’t eaten anything in 2 days. She said that Lauren looked pale and thin and missed school again the following day. I told Hannah Rose “you invite her over ASAP, we’ll fix a special dinner and get some meat on her bones.” I said this jokingly but after the kids went in bed Ken and I discussed our concern. But what could we do? Lauren’s parents had been extremely protective of her and standoffish when the girls were dropped off at gatherings and sleepovers. When we offered to take Lauren with us to the zoo her mother refused to let Lauren go. They didn’t seem like they’d accept help even if we knew what to offer. How do you go from caring to intruding with people you don’t know well?
The next night at supper Hannah Rose was eating like a horse. She commented that she had lunch with Lauren that day and when she saw Lauren didn’t have lunch money she gave Lauren half of her lunch. I said we were concerned about Lauren and hoped that everything was ok. Then I noticed about a week later that we were going through the lunch supplies of granola bars, fruit cups and peanut butter at an unusual rate. I thought about it but didn’t mention it until I saw Hannah Rose’s lunch bag one morning. It was so stuffed the top wouldn’t close. I asked her later if she knew how we managed to burn through a whole box of granola bars and a loaf of bread in 2 days. She looked at the floor and mumbled “I have been packing 2 lunches every day so Lauren has something to eat too.” Wow, Ken and I had talked for over an hour about what we could possibly do to help and Hannah Rose figured it out in a second. So, I suggested that she add extra stuff to our grocery list and use a bigger lunch bag.
Let us pray-
As He is the bread of life in our lives, we must listen to His call to us and share that bread of life with others each day. By God's grace we are obliged to obey Jesus' calling to "feed My lambs; feed My sheep" so that many may come to Him. With all the troubles that this world is facing, disregard for the welfare of others, the only true answer is for us to share Jesus with everyone and thus fulfill our mission from Jesus to "Feed My Sheep." Amen
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