Room At The Inn

Happy Birthday To You...

This song now has new meaning. Today is a little girls 2nd birthday. Her name is Asia, and I met her last night. A bunch of little kids and mothers were singing this to Asia at the church this morning at 7am. No presents. Just a choir of little voices coming from one of the classrooms. Lots of people roam the halls of this church building, but this sweet group was there under different circumstances. Those classrooms were serving as bedrooms.

One of the programs our congregation supports is called Room at the Inn. Homeless mothers and their children get shuffled around to different church buildings for a meal and a place to sleep. I signed up for the task of spending the night at the bullding, entertaining the kids, and helping these moms out however I could. There were 13 last night. I didn't spend time wondering, analyzing, and judging them. It's too easy to sit in that seat. Those kids (and their moms) need love and attention. While I tried to remember their names-I failed half the time, but realized the importance of acknowledging their name in a conversation. So, I did what comes naturally. I played with the kids, hugged the kids, rocked the birthday girl to sleep the night before her birthday (with Monsters, Inc blaring in the background), and fed them popcorn and snacks (thanks to Geri). I skipped out on a Cards baseball game to do this-and will gladly do it again.