A Night at the Mustard Seed

This past Tuesday evening, I had the opportunity to go downtown Edmonton to the Mustard Seed to help serve dinner.   For those that aren’t familiar with the Mustard Seed, it is an incredible ministry in an old church downtown that has different groups of people come in every night (except Sundays) to serve dinner to 200-300 people who have a hard time providing meals for themselves and in some cases, their families.  They have an incredible program for helping people who are in need with everything from home cooked meals, a food bank, household items, clothing and a warm place out of the cold.

What made this time different for me, was that our two boys came with me.  When the mention was made a month ago, our youngest (who is nine), was the first to sign up. He had seen how much Darcy and I enjoyed our evenings there and was excited to be a part of it.

As we were on our way into the city, it dawned on me that more questions would probably come up throughout the evening, and sometimes a little boys’ voice is not as quiet as one might hope.  So we agreed that any questions or comments during the evening would have to wait until we were back in the car. 

I watched as my kids went right at it with washing tables, get chairs ready and making juice.  After each task they would come back eager for the next instruction.  As I watched my kids in their hairnets, aprons and oversized gloves, I couldn’t help but feel proud that they were willing to step up and help a group of people they didn’t even know. 

When the doors opened for people to come in and grab a plate, Brandon was first in the line handing out cutlery, with a smile and “how are you? “  A little further down the line, Kayden and I were on cookie and pudding duty.  After the first few people were served I heard this little, not so quiet voice say “are these people ever nice.”  I couldn’t help but smile.  I watched as people came through the line and noticed that some, who had few words for the adults, always had a thank you for the kids helping.

The entire evening was again fantastic.  I really believe that it is important for our kids to see that not everyone is as fortunate and that there are things that we can do for others that truly can make a difference.  

As we were getting ready to leave, we were invited to stay for karaoke night.  They obviously had never heard me sing! 

Alana Regier