Hearts Full of Love Ministry

April 11, 2017

Hearts Full Of Love Ministry

When I was in prison, I made a “bucket list” of sorts, with all the things I wanted to do when I got out.  There were some simple things like have coffee dates, join a club, play softball and cook.  Then there are the different ones like go to Eagle Mountain Motorcycle Rally, Pepperdine University, and set all the musical Christmas cards at Target at the same time.  You know… like the lady does in the commercial many years ago.  That commercial came out while I was locked up and I thought it was just the funniest thing I’d ever seen on TV.

But a few of my favorite items are things that only God could have inspired over the years that my list grew.  Like all the churches I have listed to visit.  Times Square Church, Ricky Rush’s Church (IBOC), Fellowship Church, Believers Convention, Metro Church in Denton, and St. John’s Church with Denny Davis.  Looking back I don’t even remember why I put those on the list, but there was something about these church’s that intrigued me.  Maybe it was just that I watched them on TV and I wanted to visit them for myself one day.

And then at the very bottom of my list, I have “volunteer at a soup kitchen.”  Such an odd thing to be on my bucket list.  I’m trying to remember what I was doing, or what I read, that inspired that item on the list, but nothing comes.

Every so often, I’ll pull out the list, and maybe something gets marked off, maybe not.  But I realized just this week, that this simple task of ministering to the homeless has been on my list all these years, and it didn’t get marked off until just a few weeks ago.  Such a simple act of giving 1 hour of my time to those who have bigger needs than I do, and I selfishly don’t do anything about it.

Well, praise the Lord for new ministries like Hearts Full of Love, so I can mark items off my bucket list!  Just kidding.  Praise the Lord for Hearts Full of Love, because they are ministering to the homeless in Fort Worth every week.  They are meeting specific needs, and also the simple luxuries of life, such as coffee.

This past weekend, when serving coffee to 150+ people, I thought about the days in prison when coffee was a luxury.  It wasn’t promised and it wasn’t guaranteed. We would have stood in line for an hour if it meant we could have a small 8 oz cup of coffee.  And here I was, on the other side of the table.  My heart hurt for these people. They are in their own type of prison.  No, it’s not behind 4 walls, but it is a prison of poverty, and that is a prison indeed.

The gratitude they had for this one cup of coffee reminded me of how much I take for granted on a daily basis.

Lord, give me a simple heart again.  Help me to never take your blessings for granted, and to always give more than I receive.