The Lunch Lady Who Kept Showing Up

Maria Gonzalez drove her dented Honda Civic to Riverside Elementary every weekday morning at 5:45 a.m., even during the government shutdown of 2019. When federal funding froze and school meal programs across the country ground to a halt, politicians pointed fingers and reporters filed stories. But Maria — a cafeteria worker making $11.50 an hour — started cooking anyway, buying rice and beans with her own money.

"These kids don't care about Washington," she told a local news crew in El Paso. "They care about whether there's something warm on their tray at noon."

For eleven days, Maria and three other cafeteria workers fed 340 children breakfast and lunch. A local church heard about it and brought produce. A retired rancher drove down from Las Cruces with coolers of ground beef. Nobody organized it. Nobody ran a campaign. People simply showed up because children were hungry.

The psalmist understood something that political commentators often miss. Psalm 146 warns us not to put our trust in princes — in human systems that inevitably stall, shut down, and disappoint. But the God of Jacob? He executes justice for the oppressed. He gives food to the hungry. He lifts up those who are bowed down.

The Almighty doesn't operate on a legislative calendar. His faithfulness never shuts down, and His provision never gets stuck in committee. He reigns forever — often through the hands of someone like Maria, who just keeps showing up.