A day to be Thankful

We had the opportunity to serve to the Poverello House Thanksgiving afternoon. When we got there, we were taken out back and given a job. We had to swap out pepperoni sandwiches for turkey sandwiches. The Poverello House gives out 3 meals a day. This was for lunch, a bagged lunch which included: a sandwich, chips, a drink and a sweet. Because of Thanksgiving they wanted each lunch to have a turkey sandwich. We worked with about 8 other people. Evan was in charge of putting the pepperoni sandwiches in the bin and bringing us turkey sandwiches. He was the youngest one in our group and he made everyone smile. He stacked the sandwiches in his arms as high as he could. We did 500 bagged lunches. It was awesome. It was soon time to head in and serve lunch. We prepared and were given our duties. Bryan was on gravy, the rest of us (Evan, my mom and myself) serving dinners. We prayed as a group before people were let in and then it began. We served 360 meals in our 2 hour shift. We soon moved to clean up. We got to take trays and clean off the table to prepare for the next person to fill the seat. As we waited Evan asked, "Mom, don't they pray for their food?" Me, "That is why we prayed before they came in, some people don't pray before they eat."
I was reminded of Evan's dinner time prayer "and please bless everyone who is eating right now." He soon got a lesson on exactly why we were there...to serve others. Yes it was a teachable moment. I used it. He got many talks during that 2 hours but all in all I wouldn't have had it any other way. After we had served all the meals we were cleaning up and they said the kids who were serving could have the balloons. Evan had wanted some so I gave him a bunch. Soon after a Hispanic lady pushing a stroller with a maybe 2 year old in it walked by. She didn't speak English but it was clear she wanted some balloons too. They were all gone! I told Evan and he quickly ran her down and gave his to her. He asked if that made her and the little boy happy and I told him it did. It made me happy too.      
Yes I think he gets it, it is far better to give than to receive!