As the winter weather wears down and the spring air is around the corner, we ventured out to the St Vincent de Paul store in Lawrenceville, Georgia to spread the word and offer hope to those who are in need.

As quickly as we set up, a woman named Iona came to our table.  after exchanging some pleasantries, and explaining our purpose for being there, Carey inquired if there was anything we could pray for her.  Iona opened up and accepted his offer and informed us she had recently lost her job and did not have health insurance anymore and felt she was getting ill.  We prayed for her success in finding a job and for the healing of her ill health.  She was very grateful and accepted a Miraculous Medal from us.

Immediately following Iona, a Hispanic man came to our table and we offered him a rosary, prayer cards and saint medals.  He asked in Spanish is this from the Catholic Church?   As he was looking at the material, another Hispanic mother and 2 daughters approached our table and greeted the man and they began to talk.  He let them know all items on our table were free or "gratis".  The 2 young girls exhibited a smile and explained to their mother in Spanish that everything was free. They was excited to accept rosaries, and medals.  Although the language barrier existed, smiles and broken English was enough to convey the Word of God and our Faith.  This was obvious from the smiles and excitement of the mother and daughters as they walked away.

Our least encounter was from Jean Marie and her 85 year old mother, Sharon and their neighbor Jeanie.  Jean Marie and Sharon were Catholic.  Sharon had recently lost her husband who was her care giver.  We found out Sharon was in the early stages of Alzheimer's.   While Ray and Carey spoke with the 2 Jean's, I spoke with Sharon.  She was totally alert and full of energy.  She resisted Jean Marie's "orders" to put on her sun glasses as her Doctor had required her to wear them while she was outdoors.  My attempt to convince her to wear the sun glasses failed to, but we had a lively conversation sharing life of the aged, as I shared stories of my parents late years and she was more than glad to share her stories.  For a brief moment the Holy Spirit consumed both of us and we experienced a loving conversation sharing faith lessons and expressing how love is shared among family members.  She did not like to be told what to do, but deep down, she understood why her daughter was doing so.  She just didn't want her daughter to know it.  Sometime independence is hard to shake, as you get older, you will always see your children as children, and not as caregivers who only want the best for you.  We ended our conversation with Jean Marie stating to Jeanie and Sharon, I told you we should have stopped and talked to these men.

God works in all if us in ways we sometimes don't recognize or accept.  Let us all be open to those around us, even if we don't agree with them, but openly embrace them for being a child of God and loving our neighbor.