It was a day in the food bank when something very unusual happened - we'd actually run out of food - there were few times in the time that i'd ministered in the food bank when we actually had our cupboards, our freezers and our bins bare of anything edible.
This was one of those days.It was past four o'clock, which was our normal closing time, and i was cleaning up for the end of the day.
Just as i was getting ready to lock the door, three young men walked in, needing a hamper. They hadn't called in, so i didn't know they were coming, so we hadn't saved them anything.
I was devastated when i saw them, because i knew that the shelves and the fridges and the freezers were bare.
They were just as unhappy, because their cupboards at home were as bare as the food bank shelves at that moment!
I sat and talked with them for a while, finding out what they actually needed, what they were looking for, because i knew that there would be more food the next day, and that i would be able to put something together for them then. They proceeded to list their food items - they were looking for hotdogs, mustard, ketchup, cheese, just the staples, nothing too fancy.
While we were sitting there, me still thinking in the back of my head that maybe i would just go shopping and get what they needed, there was a knock on the side door (the door that we didn't usually use, but people who were unfamiliar with our layout would often go to that door).
I excused myself, and answered the door - the young men in the food bank watched me, as i opened the door to a man, whom i didn't recognize, i'd never seen him before at the food bank.
He had an amused look on his face, and said that he'd been sitting in the parking lot of the building (which we shared with some local businesses), waiting for someone, when a man walked up and asked him if he could take this box into the food bank. Kind of surprised, he asked why - the man just said he was in a hurry, but wanted to drop this box off for the food bank. Could he please just take the box in?
So, there was this mystified man, holding a mystery box, full of stuff for the food bank! I accepted the box gratefully, blessed him, and he turned around and left.
Knowing how i'd seen God operate up to that point, i turned to these young men, and said (in a light kind of way, poking a little fun at them!)
"What do you think might be in this box?!"Because we really didn't know what was going to be in the box, we quickly opened the box up, just like it was Christmas, and sure enough, in that box was everything that they had listed, and even more - it was all a person need for a picnic:
Hotdogs, mustard, relish, ketchup, cheese slices, hotdog buns, plastic plates, plastic cups, napkins, and i can't remember what all else!
We sat there, amazed. I can still remember the wonder of the moment.
Now, i know that God is interested in the details of life, and i know that He loves us, but sometimes He just sort of blows you away. There are no words.
That 'picnic in a box' blew me away. I was in tears as i blessed these three young men with their hotdog miracle.
I shared with them the scripture verses about God supplying our needs according to His riches in Glory, and also about the loaves and the fishes (Matthew 14:12-22)! It was all sort of too much to take in at the time.
They went away, mystified and amazed and blessed! (i know that they were NOT living for the Lord at that time, but i know that God was working on them!)
