I’m going to share a specific story. Something that happened just one morning this past month, but I think it a good one to pass along. Let me set the scene for you all.
It was a Friday morning. I don’t remember exactly how hot it was, but I can guarantee that it was quite warm already for only being 9am. I walked into my worksite where I cook, helped set up the tables and chairs outside, put away the dishes from the group who had come the afternoon before, put my apron on (yes, I do get to wear a pretty neat looking apron to cook) and started my morning with Vero in the kitchen. That is something that has become quite routine by now, so no big surprises yet.
We get things ready to cook a meal that involves a tomato sauce and pasta soup and a dish called sincronizadas (which is a really fancy way of saying a quesadilla with ham). Overall, Vero and I knew the dish was not going to be too difficult to make this day, so we just started getting things together and setting up to cook.
People come to the worksite around 10am to start their embroidery projects. Throughout the morning, Vero and I will walk outside and count how many people are there so we have a heads up of how much food to prepare. Lately, we have been getting less than usual, only about 20, so we have been mindful of that. This day was just like the others, and by a little before 11am, we knew we had about 17 people outside.
Vero and I were in the kitchen, talking and laughing like usual, and it gets to be 11:20am. I walk outside the kitchen, turn the corner to count exactly how many cups of water to serve, and I counted 26 people and three little girls. Sometimes the people bring their grandchildren with for a day if they are not in school or didn’t have anyone to take care of them, and we always welcome them to sit and enjoy some of the food with us. Needless to say, however, I was shocked, and ran back to the kitchen to tell Vero that I thought we had a problem.
Her and I both looked at each other with complete doubt that all of a sudden a lot of people just arrived. We looked at each other, we looked at the food, and even though we didn’t directly say it, we both were thinking that this food was not going to be enough to go around. But, we were not going to turn anyone away, and we were not going to tell anyone they couldn’t eat, so we began the serving process with hope.
I set out the cups and served the water to everyone. Meanwhile, Vero was serving the food. With each plate that she put down of soup, I could tell her eyes were getting more and more nervous of whether or not this was going to be okay. Also, I really didn’t think we made enough sincronizadas for everyone, so at this point, I didn’t even want to help serve in fear of running out.
Honestly, there is no other way to put this than it being a complete God-moment, but by the time we ran out of food, every single person outside had a plate of soup in front of him or her with a sincronizada in hand, including the little girls who had come that day.
I walked back into the kitchen, looking at the empty dishes left over, and looked over at Vero and said, “How did everyone get served? I really didn’t think we had enough food.” She told me that she was surprised as well, and in the 4 years she has been cooking in the kitchen, this has never happened to her before. But, she ended it by saying, “Gracias a Dios.” (Thanks be to God).
The story that comes to mind here for me is the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Okay, so it was not quite intense as having a large group of people follow you up a mountain to listen to you speak, but we definitely had more people than we expected, and had the same fear and doubt the disciples expressed to Jesus when they didn’t know how to feed everyone who was outside. I felt like I was one of the twelve handing out food the same way they were handing out the 5 fish and 2 loaves of bread, and somehow there ended up being enough.
When it comes to times like these, sometimes we let the fear and doubt rule our lives instead of the faith and trust in God. And, it doesn’t have to just involve serving food. Sometimes we don’t know how we are going to pay the water bill this month, or finish a big project before the deadline is due, or buy new tennis shoes for our children. But, the most important thing to remember is that God is always faithful and has plans much larger than our own, and when you turn to Him, even with the doubt, there will always be enough food to go around. Gracias a Dios!
I’m going to share a specific story. Something that happened just one morning this past month, but I think it a good one to pass along. Let me set the scene for you all.
It was a Friday morning. I don’t remember exactly how hot it was, but I can guarantee that it was quite warm already for only being 9am. I walked into my worksite where I cook, helped set up the tables and chairs outside, put away the dishes from the group who had come the afternoon before, put my apron on (yes, I do get to wear a pretty neat looking apron to cook) and started my morning with Vero in the kitchen. That is something that has become quite routine by now, so no big surprises yet.
We get things ready to cook a meal that involves a tomato sauce and pasta soup and a dish called sincronizadas (which is a really fancy way of saying a quesadilla with ham). Overall, Vero and I knew the dish was not going to be too difficult to make this day, so we just started getting things together and setting up to cook.
People come to the worksite around 10am to start their embroidery projects. Throughout the morning, Vero and I will walk outside and count how many people are there so we have a heads up of how much food to prepare. Lately, we have been getting less than usual, only about 20, so we have been mindful of that. This day was just like the others, and by a little before 11am, we knew we had about 17 people outside.
Vero and I were in the kitchen, talking and laughing like usual, and it gets to be 11:20am. I walk outside the kitchen, turn the corner to count exactly how many cups of water to serve, and I counted 26 people and three little girls. Sometimes the people bring their grandchildren with for a day if they are not in school or didn’t have anyone to take care of them, and we always welcome them to sit and enjoy some of the food with us. Needless to say, however, I was shocked, and ran back to the kitchen to tell Vero that I thought we had a problem.
Her and I both looked at each other with complete doubt that all of a sudden a lot of people just arrived. We looked at each other, we looked at the food, and even though we didn’t directly say it, we both were thinking that this food was not going to be enough to go around. But, we were not going to turn anyone away, and we were not going to tell anyone they couldn’t eat, so we began the serving process with hope.
I set out the cups and served the water to everyone. Meanwhile, Vero was serving the food. With each plate that she put down of soup, I could tell her eyes were getting more and more nervous of whether or not this was going to be okay. Also, I really didn’t think we made enough sincronizadas for everyone, so at this point, I didn’t even want to help serve in fear of running out.
Honestly, there is no other way to put this than it being a complete God-moment, but by the time we ran out of food, every single person outside had a plate of soup in front of him or her with a sincronizada in hand, including the little girls who had come that day.
I walked back into the kitchen, looking at the empty dishes left over, and looked over at Vero and said, “How did everyone get served? I really didn’t think we had enough food.” She told me that she was surprised as well, and in the 4 years she has been cooking in the kitchen, this has never happened to her before. But, she ended it by saying, “Gracias a Dios.” (Thanks be to God).
The story that comes to mind here for me is the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Okay, so it was not quite intense as having a large group of people follow you up a mountain to listen to you speak, but we definitely had more people than we expected, and had the same fear and doubt the disciples expressed to Jesus when they didn’t know how to feed everyone who was outside. I felt like I was one of the twelve handing out food the same way they were handing out the 5 fish and 2 loaves of bread, and somehow there ended up being enough.
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