One of the things I love about Hoboken Grace is the way our teams go above and beyond to impact our community. It only took 35 minutes, 400 granola bars and one woman in tears for me to see this up close and personal. Let me explain…
Since joining Hoboken Grace, I have wanted to get more involved, especially in serving our community. I struggled logistically to make it work. (Baby, full-time job, traveling husband – you get the picture!) When I received an email from Anthony highlighting upcoming Simple Service activities, I found my opportunity: handing out granola bars to commuters at the PATH.
Even as an extroverted person I thought the task at hand seemed a bit intimidating, but I wanted to share with our community the positivity that Hoboken Grace and my faith have brought into my life. As a bonus, the activity assured a short time commitment and took place within five blocks of my house on a perfect summer morning.
I arrived at 8 a.m. Anthony gave a quick tutorial on the quickest way to open the boxes of granola bars and showed us the card we’d be handing out (“Just Something Small,” it read). By 8:01 we were cranking! Yep, we had heaps of people avoid eye contact with us, but we also received plenty of “thank yous” as people walked past.
The greatest gratitude we received was from a woman who turned around in the rush-hour foot traffic and came back up the PATH stairs with tears in her eyes. When she got to the top, she looked at me and said, “Thank you, I really needed this today.”
In that moment, I could feel her relief that someone cared about her when she needed it. I was so happy that God put her in our path and that we could reach her with a very simple act when she needed it most. That’s what Simple Service is all about: through a small act of kindness, we can demonstrate God’s love.
That moment will stay with me for a while. When I tell friends about it I am unable to recount the story without getting choked up. Thirty-five minutes, 400 granola bars, one woman in tears and another completely in awe, simply fulfilled and amazed by Simple Service.
Teresa is a member of the Simple Service Team.
Interested in checking out Simple Service? Email anthony@hobokengrace.com.
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