The Samaritan House, April 6th

It's hard to know what exactly to write when talking about my experience at the Samaritan House. We do the same things every week. We walk across the street from the parking lot, sign in, wash our hands, put on plastic gloves, set up, make lunches, dish food onto plates, dish food onto plates again, announce seconds, clean up, leave. It's quite monotonous. I've been wondering if all the blog posts from our group will end up sounding the same after a while. Maybe not.

It's easy to get into working mode without paying attention to what's going on in the room. The Samaritan House is different from Precious Life and the Lydia House in that we don't interact much with the people we are serving. As a result, when we meet in the park afterward, there usually isn't much to share. No amazing stories of how we see God moving, or of how wonderful the people we meet are. So what do we do with this? I'm not really sure. Maybe there are small ways in which God is working, and I just have to keep my eyes open. Maybe knowing I will have to write about my experience will force me to open my eyes and ears.

I believe that what we're doing there matters. We're serving those men (as well as a small number of women). They have a physical need - the need for food - and we are helping meet it. It's not really about what we get out of serving in the end. But is there more that we could be doing for them? As things are now, it doesn't seem like there is. Should I be concerned about this? I don't know. Possibly.

Perhaps I could try to engage more with those I am serving with. I'll admit that this isn't a strength of mine. It's easy to get lost in my own thoughts while slicing bread and dishing beans onto plates. I often have a hard time keeping conversation going with anyone unless they are a conversationalist, and much more so with people I hardly know. There are individuals there I have been serving alongside for months. To be honest, I can either never remember some of their names, or have never learned them to begin with. That might be a good place to start.