and we see in color

Emily Wettig said to write it down. So as not to forget. I told her the stories of provision. I often pray before supper, thanking God for his provision because I see throughout the day how God does provide and how much I have compared to many. Many people share a smallish building with 20+ people, their belongings stored in a small locker and their bedroom a cot surrounded by many others. I drive to work in a car. Most of them walk around the few blocks they know as home. This same place I call my work. They are grateful for the OCP every day in “thanks yous” (circling up before meals and sharing that for which we are thankful); I just work there.

In the past two weeks or so the literal mounds of produce flooding our kitchen floor and smallish refidgerator has drastically diminished. I’m once again thankful for summer squash because it still lingers but in small amounts. Yesterday it took me at least an hour to try to figure out what to have for lunch because our pantry has space enough now to wave an active hand around. Our bread shelves are bare or become so quickly again hours after a shipment comes in. Our fridge is empty enough to give it a good cleaning, day after day. But still we do eat something hot and tasty. (When I was young and passionate, J I prayed to learn to live by faith; it sounded adventurous.) I have begun praying nearly everyday for food. One odd (for me) thing about working at OCP is the belief that there will always be something. I am used to being calculating and trusting on what I can see but I have been blessed with the gift that Ron (director) also holds: miracles are daily, provision is to be expected.

After searching for a while for lunch materials on aforementioned day, I made a hot meal. About a half hour before serving I got a message that someone was coming with 250 lbs of chicken. Sure enough, along with a bread donation, we received 5 boxes of whole chickens. Our upright freezer is full and our ovens were full of roasting chickens today. That is not the end. This morning again I was wondering what else we would live on (especially since one member thought we should just fry it all up then and there; one cannot live on chicken alone, at least for long when one is eating with and feeding between 20 and 60 people every meal). Meat showed up moments before I was to serve granola for breakfast; we had english muffins and ham gravy instead. Right after breakfast as I was contemplating roasted chicken for lunch someone came by with large quantities of Brunswick stew and sandwish meat for a whole lunch at OCP. So many meals are not full of meat. I don’t mind but I do get tired of people almost daily making slightly accusing comments about the lack of meat in the diet. Today as this donation of much meat was being donated someone else was literally standing in the kitchen telling me that they had gathered over 300 cans of food for the OCP. Later in the day a man came and asked when he should bring the 15-20 lbs of sweet potatoes he had for us.

We can live on bread (or rice and beans) but most of the time we don’t.

A quite unrelated but funny picture in the day took place as I was running our little car to the country gas station not much more than a mile down the road because Philip was mowing the last grass of the summer and I needed to fill the gas can. I saw an enormous combine rolling down the dirt road towards me and pulling over I saw a conservative mennonite lady on a cell phone navigating the large machine aroung me. Philip would be annoyed that she was one her phone. Was she running a large mennonite kitchen from a combine? On the way home from the gas station I drove through a cloud that looked like smoke. I could barely see beyond, but as I passed through it I realized it was combine dust in another field brought to such golden glaze glory by the sun setting. Such pictures began the ending of a full day: work at 7.15 (I was early and sat in the prayers and scripture reading at Early Church’s weekly morning service). I made breakfast, cleaned the big range in the kitchen, had some nice, gentle talks (one sitting in the sun snapping the last of the green beans, one over the kitchen counter before lunch with a college volunteer who has traveled the world for years.) Grocery shopping at Sharp Shopper after work (I love grocery shopping!) and coming home to Anita and Philip talking on the couch, then, when Anita had to leave and Elliot and Vincent woke up, eating snack in the grass outside (where Elliot pointed out various objects in order to show off his amazing vocabulary: clouds and such. My most favorite word was “be-utiful!”, taking the clothes off the line with Elliot’s help, and reading to them until they left.

Colorful and beautiful people all.