The Times They Are A Changin'

Times have changed at The Gathering's weekly Soup Kitchen but thankfully some things remain the same, but more on them in a moment...

It's sad that for now we can't allow our regulars to come inside, take a load off and enjoy a cup or three of warm delicious homemade soup, but we are trusting that this time of exile is limited and some day soon we'll be able to sit together again as friends and family, sharing stories, laughs and prayers.

For now, we are forever pursuing clean yogurt pots and the odd ice-cream tub to serve our soup in, as well as sanitising everything constantly. And it still feels wrong to be giving folks a pot of soup and asking them to go straight home with it. We miss the interaction with our regulars so much, but again, we hope and trust that this will draw to an end one day soon.

Despite the differences in how we do our Soup Kitchen for the time being, some things remain unchanged and we're thankful to God for those things...

The blessings continue to flow through our Soup Kitchen, and for that we are always thankful, especially as Thursdays are Thankful Thursdays.

The gratitude of our regulars and their warmth and friendliness remain unchanged, despite many of them facing some very dire circumstances, and we're always thankful for being able to be a small part of their journeys and blessing them in that.

The love and care with which we make our soup each week remains undiminished, and we're thankful for being able to produce such great soup week after week. We're also truly blessed by being able to serve Creamy Chicken soup for several weeks in a row now.

This also makes us thankful for the faithful who give so generously to make it happen.To those of you that give financially or save yogurt pots, THANK YOU!

One other thing that remains unchanged is how delicious our soup is. Most weeks I will happily partake of a cup myself and it's always great seeing our church members enjoying it too whilst they're serving, but this week's soup was something else.

Thank you LORD that when we give,

we are able to give of our best.