Loaves & Fishes... OR... Salads & Wraps....

That night was a night I will never forget.

I’m not sharing it to boast, but I share it because I believe God wants to reach every single person on this earth with His love. He wants you to know- His love for you is deep… and I believe God goes to great lengths to get us to see His love (even through small acts of kindness or great ones) and to know personally that He does in fact have a passionate heart for you- for each individual.

He goes to great lengths- and I believe that He can truly reach with long arms when we respond to His call in the littlest things to the largest things.

Last Friday night God called “the foolish things”… “The weak things”… to confound the wise and mighty… (1 Cor. 1:26-31)

Let me begin with a little background before I delve into the night’s events!

I am a part of a Women’s Ministry called: Destined Women. Once a month we have a “soaking” night. If you aren’t familiar with what that is, it is a night when for 2 or more hours we get together to “soak” in the presence of God. We play continuous worship music, pray, read in the Bible and just enjoy the presence of God and each other.

A week ago Friday was that night. On my way to this event I stopped to read the Bible and prepare my heart - and as I sat there and read, and prayed- I felt the heart of God drop into mine- and just had a burden to help people really know how much God loves them- and that He wants to walk with them in their everyday life.

A couple years ago I went out in Minneapolis and helped Piercing Hearts ministry hand out blankets and food and HUGS to people less fortunate- anyone who God put on our hearts to talk with, pray with, and give to.

My remembrance of this event stirred in me and I told God how I missed it and would love to do something like that again…

Throughout the night I felt God continuing to speak to me through prayers of my sisters, and through the still small voice inside that God is doing a new thing… This past week God had also put this verse on my heart: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searches the deep things of God.” 1 Cor. 2:9

I’ve had people pray over me, recently that God is sending us into a season of change, and He has confirmed to me He is doing new things.

Sunday I got to spend the entire day with my dear friend, Anna. Anna is a part of Destined Women with me. First, she and I went hiking on some beautiful trails to enjoy the majesty of fall and its brilliant colors. We spent our time praying and thanking God for how incredible He is and His creation is. Later she took me out for a dinner date to bless me, because that is the kind of beautiful heart she has.

In fact, just the other week she was able to bless a man who was less fortunate, with a meal and a cup of coffee at a local coffee shop. (Like I said, beautiful giving heart.) I remember telling her God would multiply the seed she had sown- she didn’t do it for that purpose though. She did it because The Lord had impressed it upon her heart to give to someone who maybe needed a pick-me-up. Maybe he needed God’s love through that cup of coffee and sandwich.

That night, I believe we saw the fruit of that seed bloom.

After our incredible night of fellowship over a beautiful dinner- talking about all of the amazing things God is doing, and casting anticipated vision of what He will do, we then of course decided to go for a cup of coffee together- (we share many passions- coffee is just one)

The nearby coffee shop was already closed, so we headed to the one across town- actually- it was the one where she had planted the seed of God’s love with the man who needed some nourishment.

Not having done this before, we asked specifically for each barista’s name and looked at their small “bio’s” sitting on the wall to get to know them a little-

Our excited chatting more of the vision and destiny in our lives and all that we anticipate God to do, quickly led to closing time at the coffee shop.

One of the barista’s we ‘befriended’ came over, I had assumed to tell us it was closing time- when in fact she instead said that they had a surplus of food they were going to have to just throw away and she couldn’t bear the thought of it. She asked if we would like any. We initially gladly accepted thinking our husbands could finish off what she had- but then she warned us they had much more than we originally thought.

2 large grocery bags FULL of salads and sandwich wraps!

Anna and I didn’t know it at that moment- but God gave us each the exact same thoughts- we would be handing them out to people. Giving them to whoever God chose to bless that night with a healthy meal.

We took the bags out to the car where we started to call local shelters- but there was wrong numbers, and no one answering… after several failed attempts the conviction grew in my spirit that God meant what He showed me in my mind…Anna and I looked at each other and in agreement told each other that we believed God said to hand deliver each one…

We prayed and asked God to help guide our travel through the night to deliver the food to the exact people He wanted to reach. We asked that He would have the exact people out that He wanted to touch, and that He would prepare them to receive the blessing of a free healthy meal.

We set out on our journey. Anna turned to me and said “let’s see what KTIS has to say?” haha well wouldn’t you know it- the first words were from a song by Toby Mac… “TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT- for the sinners and the saints- two worlds collide- in a beautiful display”

Isn’t it funny how God can use songs on the radio, at just the right moment, with just the right lyric to speak into our lives? We took that as absolute confirmation that God was saying, “GO”… “tonight is the night!”

I was thinking in my mind to go down to a street that I knew minister friends of mine had gone down before, but then God dropped a different street on my heart. When I spoke it to Anna she said that was exactly what God put on her mind too! So off we went, looking and praying for souls who needed some food, and God’s love!

It was an incredible adventure. We were able to bless a young couple, an older lonely looking woman who was moving in a U-Haul- (she had a lot of trash in the front, it looked like she may need a meal), a young man coming home from work who had only had French fries to eat that day, another young man walking home listening to gospel music, another young man walking home from his third job that night, and a young pregnant woman walking home! We were also able to have 3 people say no, but told them we would pray for them, and we did… Our hopes is that God would continue to pursue them and show them in small little ways and big extravagant ways that He truly loves them and is reaching His arm out to let them know He is with them.

Some people might look and say this is foolish… “a salad??” “a wrap??” “Why didn’t God just give them $1000? Or something that would last longer?” … but I believe that God went through extravagant lengths that night. And like I mentioned earlier… God uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise…

Here’s how I see it…

He prepared extra food at the coffee shop that would not be consumed that day… He drew 2 of His willing daughters to the specific location at just the right time. He moved on the Barista’s heart to donate the food instead of throw it away. He placed the SAME vision and SAME conviction on each of our hearts with where to go, and how to give this overabundance of food. He protected us and covered us the entire time- where we normally could feel fear of the unknown, we felt the compete love of God for the people He wanted to reach out to that night. The gas needle didn’t even budge on the car we were driving while driving all around the city and back home.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6) …. But faith without works is dead (James 2:17)… Last night we headed out on an adventure by faith, with our Heavenly Daddy, our Protector, our Provider, and The Maker of Heaven and Earth, The One who loves you greatly. He was glorified… We could’ve fed our hubbies who had plenty that day, but instead I believe we reached the needy, the poor, the dry, the weary… whether in pocketbook or in spirit. And I pray that God loved on them through our actions. It’s time to rise up and be the hands and feet of God.

Looking back on our entire day, I realized that my day had begun in church, being prepared beyond my realization at the time by the song that sang this:

Let us become more aware of your presence

Let us experience the glory of your goodness

Holy Spirit you are welcome here: come flood this place and fill the atmosphere

Your glory, God is what are our hearts long for, to be overcome by your presence Lord.

I believe God was preparing my heart from the beginning to become more aware of His presence, to experience His goodness through reaching out as His hands to the people around me, and I believe The Holy Spirit filled the atmosphere that surrounded us as we reached out with smiles and hearts full of love to each and every person that needed that touch of God.

By the way… on the way home, we never saw another single soul walking on any of the streets…