A call for help is an opportunity to serve

Today was yet  another mysterious day to live ,A new chance at life

I sleep-in these days,so I wake up at around 10am.This time round,I was aroused earlier than planned by someone calling at the gate

When I sat up,I decided to ignore the call
Usually,if my younger brother (who is so much more alert than myself) ignores someone at the gate,
Chances are they are not “important”

It turns out it was just two boys,one older than the other
I’d give him age 11,if he is so old
I could see them clearly because my gate is see-through
So I shut my curtains and planned to go back to sleep
But the older boy kept calling, unceasingly

So through the window I said,”Yes?” Loud and ever so clearly
“Please help us,” he said “,my brother and I are very hungry.We don’t have anything to eat”
“Sorry,” I said “we do not have any food!” I punctuated

Just as I put my curtains down my conscience gripped at me so hard ,so I drew them back and called out;
“Hey,wait there!” Not sure if I was loud enough though
As I walked to the kitchen, two things  came to my mind
One, that I had lied when I said that we don’t have any food
Because we did

Secondly,I wondered if the Lord was calling me to test-Just to see what I would do,the Lord having “done” so much for me innumerable times over!

Just the previous day,a friend of mine had overwhelmed me
Sent us a gigantic load of shopping,that covers everything we need to not only survive but live comfortably in a house like ours
My household of three
The stuff she bought  was even more than what I usually buy for us monthly
I was so overwhelmed, not because at that particular moment we lacked what to eat
But we sure were going to need all that she had  bought tomorrow
When times were tougher ,but with no place to run

“It’s God who blesses ,therefore I just give you some of the blessing.”
She cheerfully said, probably without even calculating the lumpsum  she had spilt for our sake

So in that moment of deep thought
I recalled the times in my life when I sure was going to sleep on an empty stomach and empty hopes,
then God had mysteriously and miraculously come through
So I grabbed a sizable plastic bag and gathered a bit of everything we had –
Rotating from our “store” to the fridge and to the plastic ruck where we keep our onions!

I may not be able to feed the boys for their entire lifetime,
Or even give them money
but maybe just today they would live, together with other members of their household
In between the gathering ,I peeped outside to see if they were still there
And indeed they were still waiting!
As I finalized with packaging,I went outside to check if they were there
Alas! They had started to walk away
My constant peeping at them might have made them uncomfortable
But when they saw me they quickly returned

“Do you cook?” I asked ,”Yes .” The older boy responded
“I am bringing for you food to cook.” I assured
So the older boy called his brother and patted the space next to where he was sitted  outside my gate
A silent invitation to sit and wait for the stranger who had disappeared into her house
I returned with my package,opened the gate and gave it to them.
“Webale,” he said ,taking me by surprise
I nodded and thereafter responded,”Kale”

-qdoh