One Today; One Tomorrow

Yesterday was Angel Food distribution day and I look forward to those one day a month. On yesterday I was privilege to go with a fellow volunteer to deliver food to a gentleman who was 88 years old and goes by the name of Mr. Holt. If you have never been in a place that everyone has forgotten there you would have arrive at where Mr. Holt lives. His residents is in what many would called The Bottoms. But, instead of allowing his location to determine his happiness this man was waiting on his wheelchair ramp for us to visit with him. As we approached he looked up and a short smile came across his face and he welcomed us with much expectation. My heart began to sank as I look at his tattered cloths that really didn't seem to bother him and neither did the fact that his shoes where almost ten years old. As he welcomed us into his sparse quarters he told us to enter first while he turned his wheel chair around and to not let his kittens out. He was a proud owner of five new baby kittens and didn't want them to wander out into the common area to be harmed or lost. We went into the apartment toting what we thought was just enough food to make it through a week or two but to Mr. Holt that box was like Christmas. The other volunteer did what he could not to cry at what we were looking at in the apartment and then in the refrigerator. I held it together as best as I could while swallowing and holding back the tears. This was no accident that God allowed me to come by this place today I told myself and I was glued to my spot in his less then 100 square feet apartment. He rolled in with his wheel chair and greeted us again with the best smile and look he could give us. It was then that I had a chance to observed his face for the first time and thought I saw my granddad in his eyes. They were old but had a hint of blue around them saying to me I have live a long and hard life and have many regrets. Today is not one of them. We began to unload his food and tell him what we had brought. He seem to agree with each item and nodded as we placed them in the frig. He glanced up at me as we finished and I looked him in his eyes and I said to him, "It's good to see you". He replied, "It's good to see you". I thought he called my name and I had to shake myself because I never mentioned my name. So I smiled back and so OK, God, I see you too. We prayed and began to leave, but as I was the last person to leave I turned around to close the door and get one last look at Mr. Holt. He was sitting there in his wheelchair looking at the food we had brought him with tears running down his face. I shut his door and prayed to God. Not that we had made such a great impact on Mr. Holt's life but thanking God that Mr. Holt had made an impact on mine. What this encounter has done to me bloggers I cannot begin to write about. My heart is so touched just writing this I can't stop thinking about how much I have to give yet have not made a great impact on the world. Mother Theresa once said, "If you can't feed the world feed one". Today I will feed one and tomorrow another. Your city is filled with people like Mr. Holt who live in the bottoms and have been forgotten. I challenge you to go and seek out the forgotten and let them know that God has not forgotten them. Feed one today and then one tomorrow.