Last Saturday I was reminded that small acts of hope still exist, that people can look outside of their own little world, and that compassion is more than a feeling.

I rode through the neighborhoods in my community looking for brown paper bags on front porches. I had joined members of my church the previous week and helped deliver those brown paper bags. When we delivered them, the bags were empty except for a letter and a list stapled to them. The letter talked about our food pantry and how we wanted to serve our community with donated groceries. I live in an area that’s known for its extravagant shopping mall and tablecloth restaurants. But behind the tall buildings and flashing signs there are thousands of homes. Homes with families. Families with fruitful seasons and challenging seasons. Families that are our neighbors.

The thing about neighbors is that you only really know as much as they are willing to show. And sometimes you don’t know that Joe down the street hurt his back four months ago and is having trouble finding a job outside of construction. Or that Meg across the road is a single mom and has been feeding her kids oatmeal for dinner for the past two weeks. We want to get to know our neighbors. Not for hidden motives or to advertise our ministries but simply because we have been called to love our neighbors and the food pantry was one way we knew we could. What began as a small idea of delivering two hundred bags quickly grew into a project of delivering a thousand. With that we wanted to invite the community itself to recognize the need and help us do something about it.

So we collected the bags. We drove around slower than we needed to, with the windows down and searched for a brown bag on a porch or driveway. When we saw one we’d yell “Bag!” get out of the car and pick it up. It was encouraging to see how people generously gave to neighbors who were strangers. Some families not only filled the bag we provided, but also filled two more. Another family filled a box with groceries. We had asked the community to donate and help and it was beautiful to see that they did.

I hope that those who participated realize that they did more than fill up a brown paper bag. They told another family that someone out there cares and is willing to help. They helped another family hold on for a little bit longer and worry a little bit less.