My family got connected to the Common Heart at first by helping out one Thanksgiving. We had been looking for a way to demonstrate God's love but didn't know how to get started.
A member of our church, Providence City Church, suggested that we help out at Common Cupboard delivering Thanksgiving baskets. So we decided to give it a try. When we got to the cupboard, Keith needed someone who knew the back roads in Union County. It turns out that the delivery was near a place I used to work; so we took it. We were a little nervous our first time taking all that food to a strangers house, but we were determined to help anyway we could. When we got to the house, my wife and I chose items for each of the kids to carry in based on how much each could carry. It was sweet watching the kids help and it felt good delivering hope and love to a family; they were very thankful. I left knowing that if we hadn't been there, that family might not have had much to eat at all, and they certainly would not have had a Thanksgiving.
After that, we decided to help at the Cupboard on a regular basis. We soon got a route to deliver. And, the route included the folks we had delivered Thanksgiving to just a few months before. We have been delivering to many of these same people for the last few years. And in that time we have formed deep relationship with many of them. Because of this relationship we have had a chance to rejoice with them and mourn with them, and God has enabled us to help them with other needs as well.
Our experience has also allowed us to share with others that are not connected to the cupboard in any way. Last Christmas our friend Myra let us know that she was raising her grand children and that she had no gifts for them to exchange on Christmas day. This was not something that we could help with on our own, so we prayed and asked for help from many of our friends. By the grace of God, a group of us were able to pull together Christmas for this family. And while doing so, we were able to explain to our friends what Common Heart does, and talk about God's love and what it means for all of us.
Being involved with Common Heart provides an opportunity for us to talk about and demonstrate God's love in a natural and non-threatening way. That first day when we came to help we knew that we could help ease a family's hunger, we had no idea that we would learn so much about God's love.
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