Sanctuary and Shelter

With life on a more even keel for us this January than the last, Don and I will be joining others from our region this Friday on a weekend mission trip to Beautiful Feet, a church that ministers to the homeless and inner city population in Ft. Worth, TX. For nearly 30 years, Beautiful Feet has offered a welcoming and safe haven to many needy and desperate souls. We feel blessed to be a part of their ministry every now and then.

Even though Beautiful Feet is a church and not a homeless shelter, it provides sanctuary and shelter in both physical and spiritual ways. Years before I became acquainted with Beautiful Feet, I wrote the following poem one winter as I thought about the plight of the homeless. As you read it today, please pray for the homeless — and for those who serve among them. And pray for our team this weekend, please!

Sanctuary and Shelter

Cold winter night
And I’m in my home,
Warm sanctuary and shelter.
Snow slashes through biting winds
While darkness drives the temperature down,
I look outside and shiver.
Oh God, thank You for my home.
My thoughts then fly to those
Who have no home,
Those living in the streets.
Real people, real suffering,
Real needs too many to number.
Lord God, help me to know
What I can do,
How I can give,
Where I can be Your servant.
And in Your faithful servants, Lord,
May they see You
And find
True sanctuary and shelter.

“You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.” Isaiah 25:4a

**The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, will come out in early February. Sign-up is on the sidebar.

Flickr photo by RodneyRamsey, Creative Commons License

Comments

  1. Poignant. Beautiful. How I wish we were meeting face-to-face!

    Enjoy your time here, as I know it will bless you as much, if not more than, those to whom you minister.

    Blessings, sweet sister (and thanks for putting the gIRL button up! :o))

    Melinda

  2. Wow… what an incredible poem; written from the heart. May God bless you both as you go to minister this weekend. Undoubtedly you will be ministered to as well.

    peace~elaine

  3. Beautiful post!

  4. Doesn’t it feel good to do good?

    We go to be a blessing and serve Jesus, but we come home with our own baskets filled and running over with holy leftovers.

    Enjoy!

    Jean

  5. As I was reading your poem it reminded me of the earthquake victims in Haiti, too.

  6. Wow. That is a beautiful poem. HUGE points! ;)

    I pray your trip will be frutiful, my friend. Be safe!

    hugs,
    Donna

  7. i hope u have a safe trip

  8. I look forward to hearing about your trip and may the Lord bless you for caring for the needy.

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