My husband, Mark and I had an opportunity this summer to take our two oldest children and my mother, Martha, to downtown St. Paul to help serve meals with JESUS Delivers. JESUS Delivers is an organization that partners with Trinity and three other churches in the Twin Cities to provide lunch to the homeless three to four days a week. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about taking my 15-year-old daughters downtown St. Paul to the Dorothy Day Center. It turned out to be an education not only for my daughters but for me as well. Our morning started out heading to a warehouse in St. Paul to get the food and then prep it. Peter , our JESUS Delivers leader, was excited that we would be able to serve a more "complex meal" because there were five of us that day. The complex meal we served consisted of ham or turkey sandwiches, cheese, strawberries, pasta salad, chips, black beans, and cake. I looked at my family and we all agreed that would be a quick lunch for us at home.

In Samantha's words... at first it was kind of scary because I didn't know what I was going to do. Once we got the food prepped and loaded on the truck we drove to the Dorothy Day Center, where we were going to serve the food. When we drove up in the truck, people started waving at us and started moving in our direction. It was cool to see them excited to see us. We had to do a quick set up and then we opened the doors. The people started coming and getting their food. I was in charge of handing out the pasta salad. It was really busy and time went fast. It felt good to see people getting food that was healthy and good for them. I feel like I may have made a difference in someone's life that day.

In Cassandra's words... I thought it was fun. It was educational for me to learn about how people live. Even though they don't have a home, the people we met were friendly and polite. I felt like they appreciated the food. It was so busy that day we didn't get to give out any clothes. I felt bad we couldn't do more. I liked working with my grandma preparing the sandwiches. My grandma would share stories with me about how my mom talks to everyone she meets no matter where she goes. It was true that day too! It is a good memory being with my grandma and family that day serving people that needed help.

In Grandma Martha's words... It was an awesome experience. It was a very special experience to serve meals with my daughter and her family. It was rewarding to know we served so many people that day. I was surprised to see such a need like that not far from where I live in White Bear Lake.

Mark and Rebecca... We had conversation on the way home and even several days after our experience downtown St. Paul with JESUS Delivers. We watched and heard how Cassi and Samantha were excited to share their experience with others. They excited other people to want to serve too. We were amazed with how Samantha sat in the doorway of the truck handing out the lemonade and bags of food and was not afraid to talk to any of them. It feels good to know that you made a difference in someone's life that day. I was surprised with the number of young children and women that stood in our line looking for food. I was surprised to learn that 25 percent of the people that we fed that day have jobs but just don't make enough money to pay the rent. The many men and women we served that day were gracious and appreciative of all that they received. The homeless really do look out for one another. We were all blessed many times that day over and over by people that came looking for a meal. It was a day that we still talk about and plan to do again. Next time, we plan on bringing our youngest, Katelyn, along for the experience.