Presence Doesn’t Fit in a Grocery Bag

Why Presence Tastes Better Than Potatoes

Everyone brought groceries to my Circles group tonight to give to CCA to feed families at Thanksgiving. Everyone but me.

I looked at the table filled with bags and bags of canned corn, mashed potato flakes, turkeys, and boxes of Stove Top Stuffing, and for a moment, I wondered what I had to give.

It’s been a year full of job, ministry, and community loss.
The birth of a granddaughter.
A daughter’s wedding that was miraculously paid for in full because I have a good family.

Just when the conversation and everyone’s eyes turned to me and someone said the word “unemployed”—a woman gave me a kind, knowing smile—and it hit me.

I have so much more to give.

Presence.
Peace.
Joy.
Kindness.
Mentoring.
Love.

Those aren’t side dishes.
They’re the main course.

They’re the stuff of life—the things that fill people long after the groceries are gone.
Because sometimes the most valuable gifts don’t come in grocery bags.

Sometimes they come in conversations,
in parking-lot prayers,
in listening without rushing,
in sitting beside a stranger at a coffee shop.

Sometimes the best thing we offer is ourselves.

And if I’m honest…
this season has taught me that presence is harder to give than potatoes or corn.

Presence requires vulnerability.
It requires slowing down.
It requires believing that who I am—not what I have—can bless someone else’s life.

I didn’t walk in with groceries…

But I’ve walked through a year that stripped me down, remade me, and reminded me what abundance actually is.
I’m learning to let go of what I can give and do. I’m learning to live like Mary, when I so often think and act like Martha.

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

-Luke 10:41-42 (NIV)

Abundance isn’t a paycheck.
It’s a posture.

It’s choosing kindness when you’re tired.
It’s mentoring someone when your own heart is still healing.
It’s loving people without needing to be the hero.

It’s learning I have so much more to give.

Here’s what I’m learning in this strange, in-between season:

I don’t have to have much to give much.
I am made for giving far more than what I can buy.
I just have to offer what’s in my hands.

And some days, what’s in my hands looks like hope.

Or encouragement.
Or compassion born from places I never wanted to walk through.
And somehow… that ends up feeding people in ways a bag of groceries never could.

So if you’re in a season of lack—financial, emotional, or spiritual—please remember this:

You still have something to give.
Something sacred.
Something irreplaceable.
Something the world desperately needs.

Your presence.
Your compassion.
Your story.
Your courage.

Those things don’t run out when the paycheck does.
Those things can change a life.
They’ve certainly changed mine.

And maybe… just maybe…

Giving begins with simply showing up.
Presence may not fill a pantry, but it will fill a soul.

Melissa Fairchild | Being Remade

My name is Melissa Fairchild. While I write for Being Remade, you can also find me at Hope Rewritten—where we believe that broken doesn’t mean beyond repair.

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