Our church has a partnership with a homeless shelter nearby. This shelter has been a wonderful ministry for us to be a part of. Our participation there has been a stretching experience for many of our folks. It has been a great way for us to get out of our 4 walls and focus our attention toward needs within our community.
As a partnering church, we staff the shelter one week per quarter. We provide the food, money and volunteer hours needed for that week. The toughest part to fill is the graveyard shift volunteer hours. Someone has to be awake at all times. The residents are often up and about in the middle of the night. Someone has to be awake and know what it going on. That usually means the volunteers have to set up sleeping shifts in hopes of getting at least a couple of hours of sleep. I have done it several times. 3am till 6am is the hardest part of the night to stay awake. I am usually whipped the whole next day.
I was scheduled for last night (11:00pm till 8:00am)
Yesterday - late morning I started feeling cruddy. By early afternoon I had what I think was a migraine headache. (I never used to get headaches like these - but over the last couple of years I have had a handful of these headaches that have left me virtually incapacitated - pounding head, sensitivity to light, nausea - the whole bit). Well, I went home at about 3:00pm, pulled curtains and went to bed. Before the end of the workday I called my buddy Woody and asked if he would take my shift at the homeless shelter. Essentially I was asking him on little notice to forgo a night with his wife and any sleep he was planning on getting. He willingly agreed.
I slept great. I feel much better today.
I called Woody at work this morning. He is functioning at about half-speed. He said he didn't sleep a wink last night. Props to you, Woody. You're a pal.
I love the Body of Christ.
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