Barnabas Community Meal

Cattywampus

(Names are changed in this blog to protect identities)
Cattywampus – that is how Ann parked. Thirty or so people already passed through the incredible buffet of food. There were fruits, vegetables, lasagna, even gluten free offerings! Pile the plate high for an amazing meal! All of the fixins’ were delicious!  It was the kick off “free dinner buffet” at Barnabas, the last Thursday of the month. Those of us who work at Barnabas have noticed over the years that toward the end of the month many of our Barnabas guests run out or run short on food stamps to feed themselves and their families. Hunger is a reality in Lincoln, Nebraska. So launching a free buffet meal was in the works!

So back to Ann parking cattywampus – which means “diagonal” or “off centered.” Ann had brought her neighbor Jane to the free dinner as a gift of grace. Ann and Jane live in the same apartment complex and Ann frequently observes Jane eating out of the dumpster in the back lot of their apartment complex. Knowing Ann, seeing Jane in that predicament so frequently bothered her to the soul. So when Ann heard about the free buffet at Barnabas, she made sure Jane was in attendance. And that’s when Ann parked cattywampus, diagonal and parking in other cars. Basically right in the middle of the lot!

When Ann and Jane were pulling into the parking lot, Ann slowed down to wiggle her way into a parking spot. In concert with slowing down, Jane opened her door and proceeded to step out of the car. Jane was ready to eat! Ann stopped the car cattywampus and helped Jane make her way into Barnabas.

Jane came through the registration table.  She seemed confused and it was easy to recognize the signs when someone can’t read or write well. She slowly and deliberately wrote her first and last name, letter by letter.

Jane then proceeded through the buffet and had an abundant evening of good food and the gracious experience of human dignity. It was a table set for her! And it was food she didn’t have to scavenge for in the back lot trash can. There was enough for left overs to take home. For Jane, for ann, for all of us, it was a night of dignity, hope, abundance.

And for those of us who saw Ann park cattywampus – that was an easy fix. When Ann was helping Jane go through the buffet, Kent, our Barnabas caretaker, offered her curbside parking. And in all of this activity, as Jesus would have it, the hungry, and the broken were made whole – and food and friendship are what brought us all together.