As is customary, our local HEB grocery stores come together each Thanksgiving to serve a traditional turkey and dressing celebratory meal to the public. They invite any local organizations to help serve as well.
I had never experienced this event and decided it was a good idea! At the time, I was leading our church's outreach to the community. I volunteered our group to help serve for anyone that wanted to join. I thought it would be a good exercise in serving.
The day came and we checked in to see when we would join the serving line. There were many groups helping and a multitude of hungry mouths to feed! Once we joined the line, we each stood in line next to a tray of a different food item. There was roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and rolls. We passed plates along assembly line style and handed them off to the waiting servers. Once our time slot was over, we were instructed to take a seat at one of the tables inside Jacob Brown Auditorium. I was honestly not expecting that! We did as instructed and found some empty seats. We were now on the receiving end!!! Servers came by asking what we wanted to drink and brought us a delicious plate of food as well as dessert!
That day I was so impressed with the spirit of unity I felt from the time we got there to the time we left. Not only were we able to offer our time and service but they in turn served us!!! I felt we were treated like royalty. That is not what I expected at all nor was it my motivation for attending. It was such a blessing and it filled me with gratitude to be able to experience it. To this day, it sticks out in my memory as such a beautiful experience of unity!
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"
Psalm 133:1
Leigh Aten
Brownsville, Texas
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