Never Hunger Again

I recently finished  Practice Resurrection by Eugene Peterson and was deeply touched by this story he told.

Over 25 years ago Fred and Cheryl went to Haiti to pick up a little girl they had adopted.  Addie was 5 at the time and her parents had been killed in a traffic accident and she was left alone, without a family.  As Addie walked toward the plane to leave Haiti, she slipped her hands into the hands of her new parents.

She expressed almost a fearless trust and for the parents it was a 'birth moment'...a moment much like the delivery of the other two boys, her new older brothers who waited at home.

Back in Arizona that evening the family sat down for their first dinner together.  There was a huge platter of pork chops, a bowl of mashed potatoes and all the other fixins.  It was more food that Addie had probably ever seen.  Everyone was served, then if you know teenage boys the show started and they went back for more.  The boys kept eating and eating, filling their plates until every speck of food was gone.  Addie had never seen so much food; and never seen so much food go so fast.  Her little eyes got bigger and bigger as the plates emptied.

Fred and Cheryl noticed that Addie had become very quiet and realized something was wrong.  Cheryl took a stab and guessed that Addie might be thinking that there was no more food to eat and was dealing with insecurity once again.  Cheryl hit the nail on the head, and took Addie's hand and led her to the drawer where she kept the bread, they opened it together and there were 3 back-up loaves.  They went to the refrigerator and opened the door and it was full of milk, juice, vegetables, eggs, bacon...they went to the pantry and there were bins of potatoes, onions, squash and canned goods.  They then went to the freezer and Addie saw three chickens, some fish and ice cream.  No matter how much her two brothers ate, there was always going to be enough for her so she would never be hungry again.

Jesus said, [48] I am the bread of life. [49] Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. [50] This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. [51] I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”(John 6:48-51 ESV)

In a very real sense, we are God's children...and we never need be hungry again.  Peace to you.