Hope Comes In Many Forms

If someone had told me as a young adult that I was going to grow up and oversee a large urban homeless shelter for more than 20 years, I definitely wouldn’t have believed them.

I also know many people who come through the doors at The Ottawa Mission never thought they would grow up and have to stay at a homeless shelter.
We are all on a journey.

Sometimes a decision is deliberately made that leads us down a certain path and sometimes the circumstances are out of our control – in both cases we pray to God to watch over and guide us. This blog will help us shine the spotlight on some of the journeys we are blessed to be part of at The Ottawa Mission.

Our annual Thanksgiving Dinner has just passed and once again, thanks to generous donors and volunteers we were able to provide hundreds of meals to people from all walks of life – all of them on different journeys.

I used to wonder if the effort to provide a special holiday meal actually felt special to those who came in to The Mission. Then I spotted a little note scribbled on a paper place mat that was on one of the dining room tables. It said “Thank you so much – my son and I have been having a hard time lately, this helped.”  XO Cindy. 
I was silent as I thought of this mother and son and their journey to a homeless shelter – it must have taken courage to come in and courage to write that note.

Sometimes hope takes the form of a plate of good food served among people who care at a homeless shelter.
God bless,

Diane