Meeting everyone's needs (and wants) - At the Good Samaritan Inn

Last Thursday our LifeGroup served dinner at the Good Samaritan Inn. We were the first group to serve on a Thursday night for Crosspointe's Oct - Dec commitment. While some of us had served on Sundays in the past, many in our group had never served at GSI at all, so we were looking forward to this opportunity.

At first it had seemed a bit daunting to get up there and serve dinner by 5pm. That meant some had to take off work early, arrange for sporting events to be missed or childcare, and some of us even took our children out of school early. However, upon arrival and once everything was set in motion all those worries seemed to melt away. We were there to serve and meet the needs of those who were living there at the Good Samaritan Inn - Folks who probably had larger issues than leaving work a little early...

It was a beautiful night and the kids enjoyed playing outside. While our kids played with their kids, a few dads threw the football with some of the resident boys. Our son entertained the other children by making some balloon animals for them. And the mothers had some time to chat while the rest of us took over kitchen duty. One of the mothers asked me what was for dinner. When I told her "Enchiladas & Salad" she wanted to know what they were made of. Confidently I explained "tortillas, cheese and ground beef." She said, "No rice?" Deflated that I hadn't met her expectations, I replied, "That would have been nice, but no. We didn't bring rice...but we have chips and salsa!"

All of us were given the same recipe to make the enchiladas. We put one batch of enchiladas at each table and the residents sat where ever they wanted. While I was passing out drinks and checking on everyone, I was shocked to see the same lady who was disappointed about the lack of rice - happily eating an enchilada filled with rice! One of our members just happened to purchase his enchiladas and that one batch just happened to be placed at her table. Another reminder that even though God can handle the big things, he is in the small things too.

Below are some comments from our group members:
I was very impressed last night with all of the people I met. They were very kind and extremely grateful. During dinner I sat with the food services supervisor and she is an incredible lady. She had only been there 3 weeks and seemed to have the kitchen running like clock work as well as having the respect of all the ladies who worked there with her. She attends church every Wednesday and Sunday and loves God so much that I felt blessed just to be around her. I had always heard that the volunteers get so much more out of the experience than the recipients and it is true!!!!

Their children seemed excited to interact with us and I thought they were beautiful people.

I had a great time serving last night. It was really fun doing something to help people in need, which I certainly don't get to do very often. Everyone that I spoke to was very gracious and thought the food was wonderful! The time went by so fast it seemed like there should have been more for us to do. It was a terrific experience!!

We enjoyed serving last night. The two ladies that I sat with seemed very appreciative of the food. They told me how much the Samaritan Inn was helping them. One lady had been there since November of last year and the other lady had been there four months. The experience of serving there makes me realize how very fortunate we are and puts things into perspective. I feel I get more out of it then I give. I would love to do it regularly. It is so nice to serve as a group!

Me and the kids had a great time outside prior to the dinner throwing the football around with these three boys around 5-6 years old. Was especially awesome when my son (age 10) started to engage with them, tossing the ball, challenging them and watching them really look up to him as an equal on our little playing field by the playground. Fantastic little superstars in the making that were just like any other 3 little boys you'd expect to meet in any Chapel Hill, Durham or Cary community. Respectful to each other, fun loving, great attitudes and just great little kids. My son especially will remember playing and laughing with them for that 30-45 minutes we all had.

The residents were very thankful, enjoyed the meal, seemed to enjoy our company, and they definitely enjoyed having someone serve them! We all had a great time serving and were blessed by the experience.

Christy & Jeff Wing
Life Group Leaders