Peanut Butter & Jelly
*This story was shared by a friend of the APF who prefers anonymity, but who continues to work quietly, without a church program, without a committee to determine where to deliver. Just a desire to feed the hungry.
Listen to the little God voice tickling you with thoughts you know are not your own. He is up to something good.
The little voice kept repeating itself in my brain. It wouldn’t stop. “Make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”
I recently moved to southern California where the homeless are everywhere. The climate is mild year-round, and poverty abounds. Ever since I arrived, I experienced an inside-the-mind discussion whenever I saw someone homeless. “What is my love responsibility as a follower of Jesus toward these needy people? What is the right thing for me to do for them? Why are they homeless in the first place? How can I help so many who are drug dependent? What is the solution to really be able to help the mentally ill?”
I had seen a feature story on television 30 years earlier that made a deep impression on me. It was a man who made sandwiches for the homeless. Simple. The little voice kept reminding me of the story I had seen. It wouldn’t stop bringing the story up in my mind. Finally, I connected the dots: the homeless where sleeping on the damp sidewalk within a block of where I slept in a warm soft bed. The little voice quietly began reciting, “when I was hungry, you fed me.” It was sobering to realize that for months I had been oblivious to hungry people near my own doorstep, and that I could help, if I would. I told myself it was time to follow God’s prodding. How amazing the power of an example! Years later, this man’s example would be my story to emulate and continue.
God’s little voice made it simple.:
Help those in your little world.
Look nearby.
Just supply a need.
Release expectations.
Love them.
Freely you have received, freely give.
And so for over a year I have been making sandwiches and giving them out early on Sunday mornings. I’ve expanded my sandwich line from peanut butter and jelly to also include an egg salad option. Sometimes I include a boiled egg or cookie. I stack the sandwiches inside a handed-down family wicker picnic basket and put on my uncle’s old Peterbilt cap. I start working from my house and work toward the downtown area until I run out of sandwiches. I shouldn’t be, but every time I go, I am surprised by how God opens my eyes to see and understand the gifts he has freely given me. No books, tracts, or talking about religion, just PB & J sandwiches.
Just a basket & some home-made sandwiches
I share my experience to emphasize that when you seek to hear God’s voice, expect to hear it. He’ll have something to share with you that is personal, close to home, and something you’re likely not going to expect. His ways of loving others are usually not complicated. Simple, like “feed my sheep” or “treat others how you want to be treated.” It won’t be a mystery. He’ll keep prodding until you either close your ears or take the action he is encouraging you to do. Jesus promises, “happy…are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” Luke 11:28 CEB