The Messy Middle of Mercy Ministry

Mercy ministry is hopefully a ministry to those we serve, but by God’s grace it inevitably is a mercy to us, too.

Recently I had the privilege of representing Hope in the care of a family at Speas. A 5th grader who was a good student had recently been showing some behavior that clued staff to check in at home. Mom had recently lost her job and therefore housing, and so the family of five (mom, grandma, three kids) was essentially homeless. The social worker thankfully thought of Hope as a resource to help this family get back on their feet. The deacons asked the Women’s Care Team to consider joining, to which I happily obliged as a fellow mom of three.

Mom had found a lovely and affordable apartment close to her new job. As a result of the mercy fund, Hope was able to pay the first month’s rent so mom just had to pay the security deposit. But as we know, moving comes with many additional costs and hassles. Mom was navigating moving her kids and mom, coordinating to move furniture from a storage unit, and keeping her new job despite car trouble. They ran out of food prior to payday and mom asked if I could drive her to Crisis Control. By the end of shopping, our car was completely filled with groceries that she selected herself. Mom also invited me to accompany her to GreeNest, a wonderful organization that helps families in transition furnish their new homes. Mom could pick out her own items, and we filled my van to the gills with sheets, towels, kitchen supplies, and beds, all for $127.

As much as I would like to say that everything has been smooth and easy and mom is on her feet again, the reality is we are still in the very messy middle, as I imagine we will always be. What I can tell you is that God always surprises me in invitations like this one. Where I enter with the thoughts of helping someone “less fortunate” in Jesus’ name, I inevitably end up helped myself. By God’s grace he shows me my own poverty- my embarrassment of riches of wealth, time, relationships, status and salvation that I didn’t earn and certainly don’t deserve and the ways I so often choose comfort and control over mercy. But thankfully he is patient with me in the messy middle- not eager to tie a bow on me or check me off his “good Christian” task list. He simply invites me into the messy middle of the lives of others to show me what he is like, and I can’t help but be changed.