MY MOTHER HAS A LIST

I'm waiting in the kitchen, my Mother is making her daily list. Things she must do, people she must see. When she is done we will get into the car. It is loaded with things we might need for the trip downtown. Food, water, clothes, coats, gloves ,shoes. Even copies of the New Testament, while she is helping the homeless, she tells them about Jesus Christ and what He can do for them. Today is not a good day, it is is raining and we will get wet. We are wearing rain coats and rubber boots. My Mother and I often go downtown and do what we can to help the homeless. It is hard, so many people with no home, living in a box, sleeping outside in the cold. My Mother tells me I don't have to go. I said I would, I love my Mother and she needs my help. Her list is long, it never ends. Who must I see? What might they need. We go to the grocery store and buy more food. We buy bottles of water. My Mother spends her own money, sometimes people from our Church give her money and clothes and food. There is a collection area in our church and it is always full. The sign says. Please help the hungry. There are more people to feed. We will try to help everyone we can. The people know she is coming and they are glad. They are hungry-they need someone to talk to. They need someone who cares about them and who they are. As we drive downtown, we listen to the Christian Radio Station, it inspires us and makes us think about the goodness of God. He has been good to us and we must be good to others. My Mother tells me this often. And we pray, we ask Jesus to help us do the things we need to do, the places we need to go. We could be doing something else. We could go shopping or go to a movie, or go get something to eat. She tells me the list she has is from Jesus and we must follow it. Her list includes the names of people. It includes the reason they might be on the street. If they have a family and where they might be. Some people have no one and it is so very sad. She often tells people about Jesus and prays for them. Many of the people are older, but some are young and they see their lives slipping away. We met a young single woman with two children with no place to go. A couple at church say they have an old house, she and her children could go there. It will need fixed up, the power will need to be turned on. It will need furniture and beds and blankets and a refrigerator. We go to the Good Will Store and buy the things we need. There is money collected at the church to help those in need. My Mother knows people are kind, they will give money and food to help. A man at church has a truck, he will go to the store and pick up the needed things. We go and we load up the truck and take it to the house. The woman is so thankful, she says thank you, her children will have a place to live and beds to sleep in. My Mother tells me children should not live on the street, children should not go hungry, they need a bed to sleep in. They should go to school and have nice clothes to wear.---My Mother looks at her list, we are just getting started, people are hungry they need blankets. We take people food and water and they say thank you. It might be the only food they get today. We tell them Jesus loves them and He is watching over them. One woman says I know, He is, He sent you. -We are getting wet , it is raining hard. I tell my Mother we are running out of food and clothes and it is time to go home. There are more things on my Mothers list, but they will have to wait for another day. I step into a puddle of water and water pours into my boots and my feet are soaked. But I say nothing, my Mother is wet too. My Mother could have so much more. She has a good job, she works at the hospital, she is a Radiologic Technologist. She makes good money, but she gives much of it away to help those in need. Before I get in the car to go home I take off my boots and pour out the water, my Mother does the same. My Mother starts the car and turns up the heater and it feels good. My Mother turns toward me and says Thank You for your help today. She tells me she loves me, I tell her I love her too. My Father will be home, he is a truck driver and he is gone most of the time. But it is weekend and he is off for a few days. He knows where we are, he will the start the fire in the fireplace. he knows we will be cold and wet. He will make supper. My brother will be home too. Sometimes he goes with us and helps us. We get to the house, I take off my boots, I pull my socks off, they are soaked. I will rinse them out and put them in the sink. I find a towel to dry my feet. My Mother does the same. We wrap our feet in a dry towel and sit by the fire. My Mother smiles at me and I smile at her. It is so good to have such a good Mother. Compassionate and caring for others. We set down at the table to eat. My Mother prays--she says, Thank You Jesus for giving us this day, thank You for being with us. Thank You for my husband and my son and my daughter. Please help the people that we see. Fill them with the Holy Spirit and may they come to know You as their Savior. Sometimes when we are helping the homeless, we find those who are sick. Often we take people to the hospital. Some will die, many from drugs and alcohol. I cannot understand, people just give up and have no hope. It is so sad.-Often my Mother prays for these people. They are on her list. I too have a list, I have a diary of the days we go to see the homeless. I write down names, I explain who they are and what they look like. I write down why they are out here. I write down the things my Mother says to the people and what they say to her, Someday I will write a book. I will call it. My Mother The Kindest Person I Know. Someone asked me, what do you want to be when you get big? I tell them I want to be like my Mother, compassionate and kind. Always thinkin about others and not about her needs. My Mother's list is long and so is mine.