Thanks and Hope!

What a blessed year. We've been so blessed to find ourselves in so many great and not so great situations. The great? Mainly just being able to gather weekly on a corner in downtown Omaha with a bunch of our friends each week. Meeting folks who want to help. Meeting folks who need help. Praying for a trailer and having one delivered. The exact one I found in my perusings on the web. And some of the simpler things. Praying for a more efficient way to brew coffee. Might seem like a trivial deal, but when it gets cold here, a good cup of hot coffee goes a long way to warming not only the heart, but maybe the soul. We were blessed last week by the founder of the Scooters Coffee chain. Christian and I met with him last week and he gave us, no strings attached, a Bunn coffee brewing system. And set us up to get coffee donations on an as needed basis. Again, this may seem like a small deal, but when I tell our friends that we are trying to do our best for them, and where it comes from, the Lord Himself, I believe it means something. Because if nothing else, we want to offer dignity and respect. And Hope. I mentioned once before that I almost thanked our friends for being homeless and I know how ridiculous that sounds. But what I meant was I thank them for being in the situation they are in, yet still welcoming all of us into their community. I could be wrong but it certainly seems as though we've built a level of trust and understanding with them. There will always be a level of skepticism I'm sure, but by and large, we're in. Trusted. That's really all I hoped for from the beginning. That we could show a level of God's love from us to them that would be evident from the start. Seems to be working. And the not so great? Well, we've lost a few of our friends. Doug…Scott…30 or so to be exact. No words here. Just our prayers that they rest with our Lord and Savior. And obviously we've faced other challenges and not so great moments. And we probably, or should I say definitely didn't handle them all as gracefully as we should have. We are human. We will fail more often that not. But we'll keep on trying…

2007 was a great year for us. We have been blessed in so many ways. I can't begin to reflect on how many great things have happened in this ministry without mentioning my family first. Robin is obviously all in. She is the glue that holds this thing together. On a physical, spiritual and compassionate level, among other things. Now, obviously, God is the REAL glue, (not to mention the butter…HA!), but my wife is an amazing person when it comes to compassion. If someone were to ask me what one word best describes her, I would not fall into that trap, because there are too many. But compassion would be right at the top of the list for sure. She just has a Godly way of seeing the souls of people and it really keeps me balanced. My kids on the other hand have been blessed in this ministry far beyond what I could ever have imagined. Yesterday, after dong his weekly sock ministry, joyfully with headphones and singing loudly, Nick proclaimed his love for Sundays. Why Nick? Because we get to go downtown and see our friends. And Nick has some friends. Seems as though all of my kids feel that way. I have much to be thankful for to be sure. They get it. I am truly blessed beyond anything I deserve.

And I cannot forget the folks that give of their time, energy and resources. What an amazing group of people that God has blessed us with. And when I say us, I mean all of us on both sides of the equation. I cannot begin to name them one by one, because my feeble brain would surely forget an important cog in this process. Just know that if you have played any role in helping our friends in this ministry, God bless you. He knows. And that is all that really matters. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. There is much work to do for sure, in so many ways, but to all those that have helped in any way, shape or form…THANK YOU!! You also are the glue that holds this crazy thing together. I could go on and on here, and anyone who knows me knows that. :)

And most importantly, to our Lord and Savior, my God, my Father…Lord I thank You and praise You for your Grace and Mercy. Without You, I am nothing. A mess. But through your Grace, you've led a busted individual like myself to a crazy environment on a street corner in downtown Omaha to be a light to a group of people that amaze me constantly. I praise You and thank You for the opportunity to share Your love and Your Word with some folks who we've come to know in a year's time that have simply become family to us. I thank You for the willingness of those that help. I praise You for sending them. I stand back occasionally and marvel at what has happened on that corner. Lord, I know that not all of them get it. That some are just there for the "stuff". And some are there because it makes them feel good. But if we continue to bring the "stuff" in Your Name, maybe someday we'll all get it. That all You want from us is our heart. Our soul. And to do the work you've called us all to do, humbly in Your Name. What ever that may be. And to give you the Praise and Honor you so richly deserve. I praise You for making it all happen. Weekly. I am amazed at Your Greatness. I cannot wait to see what 2008 brings. 2007 was filled with challenges and victories Lord. I'm guessing more of that in '08? We're along for the ride. I pray that You'll continue to lead and guide us and straighten our path when we stray. Thanks You…Thank You…Thank You.

And finally this….from Paul's letter to the Romans – "And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

All thanks to God, and to all who have helped in His ministry, because we have Hope. Thank you all and may God bless you richly in the New Year.

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

Ringing the bells…

Another cold Omaha day yesterday. Brutally cold. The kind where the wind stings when it hits any exposed skin. I still don't know how some of our friends live out in this stuff. And lots of them are going into shelters this time of year. But there are still those that somehow manage to exist outdoors even in this weather. Don't know how.

Robin and I were invited to a Christmas party at the Open Door Mission Friday night. It was an honor to be invited and spend the evening with our friends. One of the highlights of the evening was a 40 minute video presentation done by Louie Giglio from Northpoint Church in Atlanta. It was the Indescribable presentation about comprehending the size of the universe and and even though we are stunningly tiny in the overall universal realm, God knows every star by name and also has the magnitude to know each and every one of us. It is an amazing look at His creation. Afterwards, we had opportunities to sit and chat with the "men". That's' how they're referred to at the shelter. The "men". I like to call them my friends. It's funny because I hear them called "the homeless", and all sorts of other collective types of names. And I suppose that's what they are. But we don't call ourselves "the homed". I have a pet peeve about labeling people so when I hear our friends referred to as "the men" or "the homeless", I try to make note not to do that myself. They are great folks who are maybe just going through difficult times. Maybe. So anyway, we had a chance to sit and chat with them. I happened to be a table host. Another label of course. So I chatted with a couple of fellows that I know, Harry and Bill. A sidenote here. Harry was given a camera recently by a social awareness type of group. The goal was to document the life of folks on the streets. The photos were auctioned off and money will go to the shelters. You can see some of the photos here - http://www.myspace.com/concreteconscience. So I sat with Harry and Bill and we prayed and talked. It was a great evening. I mostly talked with Bill.

You see, for some reason, I am extremely drawn to Bill. He was one of the first people we met on our journey in this community we've become immersed in. Met him in the Office that first weekend. You ever meet someone from a totally different walk of life and instantly hit it off with them? That was Bill for me. I mention Bill a lot in my ramblings. Couldn't really tell you exactly why, except I love the guy. How crazy is that? So, as we talked Friday night, I felt for Bill. He really, really want's to change his life. That much is extremely evident. But how? How does he get away from the influences that surround him daily and beat the addictions that rule his way of living. Only way I know is the Grace of God. He was a bit depressed Friday night. We hadn't seen each other since the previous Sunday. And then, Bill was feeling no pain. Zero pain. And we were supposed to meet Thursday for lunch. No show. That happens. He apologized for standing me up. I told him it wasn't a problem. I'd be there every Thursday, just as we're there every Sunday. If he shows, we'll chat, pray, and maybe work through a study program. If not, I'll give a sandwich to someone and be on my way. No worries. I mean, I was certainly disappointed that he didn't show, but that happens. So yesterday, he comes to our corner and he's in much better shape. Been sober for a week. Trying. I tried to hammer the point home Friday that if he ever needed someone to talk to to avoid the demon that haunts him, to call me. I'd meet him for coffee or whatever. He told me he had my number. I don't remember giving it to him, but he had it. Memorized. Told me I was his ace. I told him to keep me up his sleeve. And to call anytime. I'm not trained to help guys with addictions. I've had my own and God has been extremely graceful to me. I know what it's like to come out the other side and live with that seemingly for the rest of our lives. I know what that looks and feels like. I mentioned that to Bill yesterday. We've had 2 great conversations in the past few days. He want's out. I explained that for me, 17 years ago, I wanted out. When I mentioned 17 years, he perked up. He told me I had way too much to lose now. I agree. So does he. He's read through the entire New Testament over the last couple of months. He knows the deal now. Knows what it takes to make it eternally.

There was a memorial service Friday at the day shelter for all the "homeless" folks that passed on the previous year. They rang bells for each one of our friends that have gone before us. Lit candles and had a vigil service for them. As I talked to Bill on Sunday, he mentioned that he had to change. Otherwise, they'd be ringing a bell for him some day. And he doesn't want that. Told me so yesterday. Lord knows I don't want that for any of our friends. And I certainly don't want it for Bill. The thing is, after getting to know Bill a bit better over this past year, I sense a change coming over him. I certainly know that I can do nothing for Bill. Not in the physical sense. Of course I can pray for him. That I do. But he has to want out. Has to want to change. For the first time, I heard him say those words and I sensed that he meant it. He wants to live differently. Will he? I have no idea. I just know he wants it. That's one of the biggest obstacles. Recognizing the need to change. I'll keep on trying. All I can do is what I do. Pray. Meet with him. Pray some more. Be the ace up his sleeve. What else? Only God knows. I have mixed emotions. I have hope certainly. But there are so many Bills. And it pains me to know that bells will be ringing for them. 30 in the past year. That's maybe 30 too many. Doug died a couple of weeks ago. He was one of the 30. I pray that no bells will be ringing for Bill. There's still time for him. He gets it. But will he ultimately get it? Is it worth the effort to keep hoping? Oh I think so. The only bells I want to hear are the Salvation Army bells. Those I can deal with. These other bells? Lord help us to help them. "The men". "The homeless". The Bills. No bells for him. God bless ya Bill. I love ya man!

And to all those who help us help the Bills of our world…Merry Christmas!! And a blessed new year to you all! God bless you all for all the things you do to keep this ministry alive and thriving. Thank you doesn't seem to be enough. But thank you. You are an amazing group and Robin and I are so blessed to call you all friends and to serve in His name alongside of you all. Thank you for being faithful to the call to help those in need. Thank you and God bless you!!!

Peace and have a great and blessed week

..."it matters to that one"... :)

Doug...

Been a tough week, and a good week. Lots of great stuff happening. Robin sent out an email asking for help to sponsor a couple of families that we know. It's that time of year when some families need help or the little ones might be forgotten. The response was a little overwhelming. And I have to admit, when she first mentioned it to me I was a little skeptical. There are times when I think we might ask for a little too much. But it's not for us. I have to keep that in mind. None of this is for us. It's a blessing to us for sure. But none of it is ours. I ran into a lady today at the Sienna Francis house. We were dropping off some leftover bread and she had locked the keys in her car. Apparently she had a little time on her hands as she waited for a locksmith. As I was unloading the bread, she asked if I needed help? Sure. Asked me what church we were from. I explained our story to her. What it is we do. She nodded. Her words? Have to feed and clothe them first. I agree. Have to. If we don't' someone else will, but I guess God has a plan for us for now.

Doug was a friend of ours. He left us this week. We've known Doug for over a year now. Great guy. Alcoholic. Who knows what else? I really felt pained for Doug. I don't know the entire story of his death. I last saw him on our corner last Sunday. He got there late, but was in good spirits and apparently, minus the "spirits". He had a huge plate of food. We had a little extra last week, so they heaped him up pretty good. He was laughing and having a good time. He's been going with us to our weekly bible study at The Vine on Tuesdays. He wasn't around last Tuesday. We went to the shelter to see if anyone wanted to go, and Doug usually goes with us. Wasn't around Tuesday. So Thursday, I meet Bill. We are going to start meeting for lunch on Thursdays. As Bill and I are walking up the street on Thursday, he drops this bomb on me out of the blue. "Old Doug Etter died last night". ??? Huh? "Old" Doug Etter was about 42 or so. That's not old. And I just found out recently that Doug and I went to Omaha South High together. He was a couple of grades behind me, but we hung in some of the same circles. I vaguely remember him from that time I think, but it's pretty hazy. So when Bill told me that, I couldn't believe it. Doug was a great guy. Loved that guy. Saddened me greatly to hear of Doug's passing. He seemed to be making great strides. Trying to kick his addictions and demons. Doing the weekly bible study. Seemed to be coming around. Did he make it? I know he believed. But was that enough? Man…

And this happened just a couple of days after one of my favorite uncles, Uncle Cy, passed. He was 89. That might, just might be a little old. Another great guy. And this happened about the same time I got the following message from my friend Bob, who is braving the elements on the river in Des Moines…with his permission, it fits…funny how that goes sometimes.

*****************************
I have been thinking on this lately. Dec 14 of this year [two days from now], Rick Roe will have been dead one year. I close my eyes and see the drunken smile he had as we both were chugging fifths of gin and headed for oblivion. How when he took the first drink, he would vomit it up. A waste I would laugh and say to him. He would laugh also- but keep the next drink down. How we would both " slam" drink when together , fearfull we wouldnt get our share. We drink fifths in two drinks each on many occassion and passed out. Him usually first and then I would "riffle" his pockets to see if he had any money left for another drink. Sometimes, I really didnt want to drink, but at 4 am he would kick my mat at the Francis House and say " come on, I got plenty of money". Or he would tell me he was barred or shut off from buying it at such and such and I would take his money and buy it.

I remember the last day of his life..................the breakfast we had togther, the drunk we talked about for later and then-----------I got drunk with Al that night and learned of Ricks death the next day.

Rick had asked me the morning of his death to speak at his memorial service and I said something flippant- but agreed to do so. I had know idea that 12 hours later--- he would pass. He used to talk about Rockne, Lombardi, Bryant and all the great football coaches and how they were "with the big coach in the sky". Well.................Rick is there with them I hope. No man actually knows the state of another mans soul or his relationship with his Creator.

May God have mercy on Rick Roe and all the souls of the faithful departed.

The amazing thing is ,,,,,, sometimes I see a guy stagger down the street and for just a moment, I think its Rick. Ya know, when I look deep into their eyes---------it is Rick.

God bless him and all of US like him.

Just rambling I guess..........close to tears now.

Enough said.When ya have church on the corner Sunday-- look for him. Say "hello" for me.

Later bob

*****************************

I love Bob's messages. They always seem to come just in time and always carry a certain profoundness. An amazing guy, to be sure.
And an excerpt from a reply I got from Bob…again, with his permission

*****************************
I wonder if the Shelters are a place of hope? If Christ were here, wouldnt he be on the corner of 17 and Nicholas at the Francis House talking to the whores, drug addicts, drunks and pimps. Wow, I bet he would be on the corner of 14 and Douglas too. You lucky guy..................

Gods speed and keep on keepin on!

bob
*****************************

So it's been a strange week and a great week all wrapped up in one. I see so many great people every Sunday on our corner. They are so appreciative of all that happens there. Helping unload, set up, load after we finish. Even had Keith shoveling snow so we could get going today. He even called last night. The caller id says "Sienna Francis House". Keith is reminding us to bring a shovel and a wrench for the propane stove we use to keep our stuff warm. You better believe I remembered. And he shoveled. Ask and you shall receive? Isn't that how it works. But what I've come to understand even more this week is the love that I feel for these guys. They are becoming more that just our homeless friends. Much more. And when one of them leaves us like Doug did this week…well, we all know how it feels to lose a family member and that is sort of what it felt like. Big time sadness…that's all.

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :(

Doug...we'll miss you man. Peace brother.

Cold…Need…and other stuff…

Today marked the first really cold day we’ve had downtown since probably last February or so. Man it was cold. The number of people was down a bit also. But the need was still there. I forgot how crazy it can get on that corner in the dead of winter. We have a pretty good routine of how we do things down there, even given the fact that not much that happens is very routine. We usually set up our meal, serve until everyone gets through the line, place the clothing bins out for “shopping” and hand out a few hygiene items and then just hang out and do a little fellowshipping. But today was different. When we start serving and see people without gloves, coats, etc, then we have to just improvise. Getting people in the back of the line hot coffee. Passing out gloves and coats as they wait. Gets a little chaotic all at once.

Many cool things have been happening, even though we had a tragedy strike our city this past week. The shooting at the Westroads Mall shopping center was something that words obviously cannot describe. It was a senseless, heinous act for sure and such a shocking day. It gets to the point of over saturation when these things happen, at least from a media standpoint. I guess when I turn on CNN and it is the lead story, it means that it’s a big deal. And it was. Just can’t make sense of it. I’m rambling here, but if you haven’t, could you take a minute to pray for the city of Omaha, the victims and the young man responsible for the shootings. We all need a little healing right now.

Through a posting on a Nebraska football message board, which is simply a glorified form of internet begging, we were able to have enough nice heavy gloves for virtually all of our friends today. I met a fellow named Todd because of my post asking for coats. Todd actually sells sports apparel and just happens to live a few blocks west of us. Brought over some really cool samples last week. Team logo jackets and coats. And when he asked if there was other ways he could help, we had an answer. Do a glove drive for us. That would be a huge help. Yesterday, Todd dropped off bags of gloves. And socks. And more coats. Unbelievable. He said he sent two emails to folks in his church, Calvary Christian, and the result was more than we could have imagined. I remember last year, driving from thrift store to thrift store looking for coats and buying gloves by the dozens. This year, I step out into my garage, which is starting to look like a thrift store in its own right, and we have more coats than we know what to do with. I’m seriously contemplating looking for a storage facility. It’s getting crazy. But it’s the best crazy I could ever have imagined. God is blessing us in ways that simply blow my mind. We have this crazy network that just keeps growing. I remember last year also wondering how in the world we would be able to sustain this thing. Well, we don’t. He does. And has He ever sustained us. And them. I had a guy today, on Douglas Street next to my van, tell me how much he appreciated what we did. And this fellow, Steve, I don’t know his story. Yet. But he said that when he sees us, he sees the love of Jesus. Stopped me dead in my tracks. Lots of these guys are just in survival mode. Get what they can get, and move on. Steve made me remember what it was we are doing. In the chaos of coats, gloves and mass craziness, we are able to share a little of Christ’s love with these great people. And they are great people. Great, great people. I can’t imagine not doing this. When a guy like Steve says those words, from his heart, it helps sustain us. Because I think those words came from God. It was a crazy morning at our house. Shoveling snow off the driveway. Trying to get the trailer into the garage so I could do the loading out of the harsh cold. And it was cold. Did I mention that? And snowing? And Robin and I just weren’t on the same page in some respects. Happens. And I wasn’t necessarily feeling well. That happens also. So when a guy takes me aside and says what Steve said, I have to believe those are Gods’ words. And the Spirit recharges us and we can go on. Because we have a lot of winter months ahead. And the needs will be great.

We had a couple of fire trucks and an ambulance grace our presence today. One of our friends fell and hit his head. We offered them food. Why not? My brother is a paramedic and they, of course, knew him well. Always nice to get to know those guys. Never know when we might need their assistance. They took Alan to the hospital. He seemed to be ok. We’ll pray for his recovery. Hopefully they keep him overnight. It’s cold out on the streets and he wasn’t thinking straight, if you know what I mean. Weather like this mixed with alcohol and guys end up losing toes and feet. Not a good situation.

Finally, I met Joe’s wife today. Irish Joe. He’s talked about her a lot, but we’ve never met her before. Frankly, I wasn’t sure she existed. But he showed me a letter a while back that she’d written him. Broke my heart to talk with her. She and Joe are on the streets now. She was living with her father, but he and Joe apparently didn’t get along. So he’s not welcome there any longer. As we were talking today, I noticed she was wearing a pretty light coat. Asked her if we could get her a heavier coat? She broke down. I have to tell you, there is nothing worse and more heartbreaking that seeing a woman who is on the streets, doesn’t know where she’ll end up and is trying to make sense of it all. My heart just broke for her. They lost their child a while back to Down ’s syndrome. Very young. I just can’t imagine the combination of issues that puts a family on the streets. But it happens. And it is cold. Single digit temps tonight. And lots of these folks live in tents, or in parks or wherever. I just can’t imagine…

Have to quickly tell one other thing. We have a pretty steady group of people who come down to do community service work with us. We’ve had a couple of young girls coming down recently. They also go to a retirement home to meet some of their service requirements. Crazy young girls. They usually show up without coats. Hardly ever have gloves. Do they not live in this same winter world that I live in? I mean I have to laugh and shake my head at times. Today, they show up with bags of blankets. Now this is cool. They got the blankets from the folks at the retirement home. So because of our connection to the Sarpy County Community Service program, these young ladies have now stepped out and are going beyond their service requirement. I am amazed how God connects all the dots. Blankets from some fine ladies in a retirement home for our homeless friends via some young ladies doing community service hours. Yeah. That’s cool.

So my heart is heavy tonight. The shootings. Our friends out in the harsh elements that Midwestern winters often bring. Hard to make sense of it sometimes. Lots of months left in this winter. We’re just beginning. Lots of grieving left for those impacted by the mall shootings. I pray for those families. And for our friends. In the shelters and under bridges and in tents down by the river. God be with them all…

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

An Open Letter…

Dear Neighbor,

My name is A_ _ _ and I deliver your weekly paper. I also do volunteer work in Omaha every Sunday with my family. We make food for the homeless and we give out toiletries and clothing to those in need.

Now that it is getting cooler we need sweatshirts, tube socks, coats, scarves, mittens, boots, blankets, sleeping bags and tents if you have one.

Some of the people do not get to sleep in a shelter. They sleep in forests – in ripped up tents and under bridges and in parks that look sad.

I give out toiletries every week with my dad. We often run out of stuff. This is what we need: soap, toothpaste, brushes, shampoo, foot powder, deodorant (tons of that as they use it alot). Ladies toiletries, backpacks and plastic bags.

Please call me on xxx-xxxx then we can pick up your donated items. Thank you very much. From A _ _ _ age 8 ½ and her mum and dad.

****************************************************************

The above letter was obviously written by an 8 ½ year old girl. When I saw this letter, I was absolutely blown away. Absolutely blown away. And you know why? Because a little girl gets it. She absolutely gets it. She came down to our downtown corner with her parents to help and went home with the idea that she would write a letter to people on her paper route to ask for help. Rarely a day goes by anymore without something really cool happening within this ministry. But this was so profound to me on many levels. First and foremost, like I said, she gets it. That there are people in need, in “forests – in ripped up tents and under bridges and in parks that look sad.” Lets help them. Seems pretty simple.

From the mind and mouths of children come some of the most wicked cool things sometimes, but that line, to me speaks volumes. One of our friends downtown, Harry, is a Vietnam vet. Harry lived in a “forest” for a while. He’s “relocated” to a shelter for now. Weather is hitting us pretty good right now. But there are still those who resist and stay in tents down close to the river. I don’t know how they do it. I don’t know how a person can possibly survive the winters in this town living outside with a thin tent as their sole protection against the harsh elements. But they do. And when this little girl learned of these folks, she took action. She did what her heart led her to. And in her heart? The love of Christ. The love of our Savior that lives in the heart of children. And the coolest thing about this, to me anyway, is the irony of a child helping a homeless person. A person in need. It’s easy to look at our kids and see them as needy (and Lord knows mine are sometimes) and it’s even easier to look at our friends downtown and see their needs. They are pretty hard to ignore sometimes. Especially today with our first taste of Nebraska winter. Guys standing in line waiting for a hot meal with no coat, no gloves, wet and torn sneakers. Nothing will move me to action quicker than that. Coats? We got ‘em. Gloves? Different story. We need gloves. Our friends need gloves. Boots? They need those also. And this little girl saw the need and stepped out to make a difference. Want an amazing testimony to the heart of a child. And child-like faith. To know that if she took the step, people would respond. And they have. One couple left word that they had a bag of things for her. When she went to pick up the donation, there was a note attached that stated they didn’t have any toiletry items, but they gave her $20 for her cause to pick up some of those items. An elderly couple who have no idea where or who that donation would go to, but who were willing to help out because a little girl asked. In a way that would be hard to say no to. For me anyway. I read her letter and was just moved. That a mission God blessed us with a little over a year ago would bear fruit in this way. That this little girl could be touched and moved to action. That many more are touched and moved to action weekly. Some daily. I’m profoundly amazed that there is such a need in the first place. I mean, we know there will always be those in need. It just works that way I guess. But the sheer fact that so many people are willing to give up their Sunday to help out in so many ways is something else. And that people from all faiths and denominations have listened to the call for help and have jumped on board is even more testimony to the work that God has called us all to.

I can’t shake the verse in James that speaks to helping those in need. I’ve referenced it before, but is simply says that if we tell our brother or sister to go, be well and stay warm, yet do nothing to help that individual, then what are we really doing? We meet people of all races, all nationalities, and all ages. There’s no discrimination when it comes to need. It crosses all boundaries. But some of the folks we meet are so very genuine. And so many of them know and love the Lord. They just are where they are and we are just along for the ride. The ride that includes a letter from a little girl asking others for help. One of the littlest of those seeking to help the least of those. And then doing something about it. Wow. Humbles and inspires me to get out into the “forest” and fix some of those ripped tents. To get out under the bridges and bring the joy of Christ to erase the sadness.

The thing is, when Robin and I felt this call to service, it was obvious that we couldn’t do it alone. We knew that. We had no idea where the journey would lead us. And who else might jump on for the ride. We’ve been blessed from day 1 in that regard. This letter tells me we’ll be blessed for as long as He wants us to continue. I’ve never once felt like this should end. By that I mean that I’ve felt that we’d do this for the duration. How long is that? Who knows? One guy asked me last week how long we’d be doing this. I think he was wondering if we’d be stopping for the winter. Nah. No stopping. I told him that when we see Gabriel stepping out on a cloud to call us all home, then I guess that’d be when we stopped. I don’t know. I just feel blessed to be a small part of what God is doing in that community. And this letter says it all for me. I love this ministry and I love God with all my heart and I absolutely love that He is using people of all races, ages, faiths, denominations, and walks of life to help people of all races, ages, faiths, denominations, and walks of life. Funny how that works. I want to openly thank this young lady for her efforts. I can’t imagine a more perfect letter, through the heart of a child to make a difference in the name of Christ. Thanks young lady and may you be blessed beyond your wildest imaginations. I know I have been. :)

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

Giving Thanks!

Now this was a strange day indeed. Once again, I simply don’t know where to begin. I’ve had a little time off this past week. Thanksgiving and all. So when we went downtown today, it seemed as though we hadn’t been down in a few weeks. I was just out of sorts. It was a great day. They all are. Haven’t had a bad one yet, if I recall correctly. But today was just a bit odd. We had an arrest…ran out of cups for soup…had more people showing up to help than I’ve ever seen before…just an odd day. Now if these are the worst problems we have to deal with, I’ll take ‘em. I mean, the fellow that got arrested might think differently, but from what I gather, he’s not a first timer, if ya know what I mean. Running out of cups? Hey we got creative. Used some Glad Ziploc baggies and other containers. Whatever works. And the people? Good grief! There were more people showing up to help than I can ever remember. I am absolutely amazed at how many people show up each week AND come back.

I think it’s easy, especially at this time of year and during the holidays, to want to help out in some way. In a civic or community sort of way. Or in a Godly way. I just think it’s easier to get in the spirit of this time of year and want to do something meaningful. What is so cool to me, on a personal level, is the way God moves and uses people within our circle to make an impact in people’s lives. Not the least of which is there own lives. We’ve been blessed in so many ways to have people who are so willing to give of their time and efforts. There is a family, who shall remain nameless because that’s the way they’d have it, who have been an extreme blessing to us and our friends downtown, This couple and their kids come down every week and are fully in. They’ve done things so far beyond the call that I am simply in awe. Let’s just say that they are a big reason that we are able to take all the things down every week and they have made this ministry so much more viable. It is so amazing to me when folks like this hear the call to His service and jump in. This couple and their two daughters are simply a blessing from God for us. Now I say that because it seems as though they are constantly seeking ways to lessen the burden on Robin and myself. As if this thing is a burden?! Ha! Sure, it’s a lot of physical work…cooking…managing oodles of clothing donations…cooking….loading the trailer on Sunday morning…and did I mention cooking? But it really is something that I can’t imagine us not doing at this point. And when people like this jump in and humbly serve, it is almost overwhelming. Robin met these folks through a home school group a few months ago and I can’t imagine them not being here now. They are a fixture and it is amazing to see God work through them. Amazing. Lots to be thankful for. And for this family? I am extremely grateful and very thankful.

Like I said, we had an arrest today on our corner. I figured it would happen sooner or later. Lots of these guys have warrants and such, so it’s not that surprising. As I was working my way through the line of folks waiting to eat, I came across Charlotte. On the sidewalk about 10 feet away was Jerry. Now Charlotte is a little out there. I love her, but she isn’t quite all together. And that’s a side note here. Omaha just really doesn’t have the facilities to care for people who may be in need of mental care facilities. A long term care facility was closed sometime in the past few years and I assume these folks are now living in various shelters. It just breaks my heart to see some of these folks when I know they aren’t getting the care they need. So Charlotte was off on a rant. She’s probably in her mid to late 40s? African American. Very slight in build. And very vocal at times. Jerry is probably late 30s or so. Average height. Alcohol problem for sure. Don’t see him that often, but he’s been around off and on for the past year. So she said he was harassing her. He said not. A little while later, apparently, Charlotte walked across the street and asked our local police officer for a little help. Unbeknownst to me. So I was trying to defuse the situation and the next thing I know, I get a tap on the shoulder letting me know that Omaha’s finest was on the scene and he’d handle it from here. It wasn’t a big scene or anything. Just quietly led him away a little bit later and took him to the station. Just a little more weirdness added to the afternoon. I have to add here that Charlotte is affectionately known to some of us who go down regularly as the “bird dookey lady”. There’s a story behind the name. And the reason it stuck is the reason a lot of our friends have various nicknames. It’s a lot easier to remember some of the names if we can associate something to them. In Charlotte’s case, it was an outburst this past summer. She was upset that we were serving our meals under the trees in the park. Seems she was worried about all the bird “dookey” that might fall from the trees into the food. Said she’d call the local TV station to alert them to the fact that we were serving food in an unsanitary situation. Get us shut down. She was on a rant. So now? She’s the bird dookey lady.

One other thing that has been happening lately is the flood of coats and coats and more coats that are completely overtaking our garage right now. We have had two local high schools run coat drives for us and have gotten coats from so many places I have no idea what we will do with all of them. Well, I have an idea, I just never thought we’d see so many. Last year at this time, I was spending hours searching through Goodwill stores and thrift stores for coats and winter gear. Now? I’ve installed a hanging system in my garage to accommodate all this stuff. I gave a coat to a fellow today and he was so thankful. Said now he had a coat that would keep him through the winter. All because someone’s generosity (and over abundance) led them to us. We are simply the conduit. The pass through. But because someone or a whole bunch of someones gave generously, our friends will stay maybe a little warmer over the next few months. If I were to make a guess, I’d bet that we have probably been blessed to get, give or have in our possession 150 or 200 coats. I’ll never forget our friend Andrew showing up last winter in below zero weather with no coat on. Never forget it. Why was he in that situation? No idea. But he needed it. God provided it. Pretty simple. Because we are so blessed to be in cahoots with great people who want to help and see the need to help those who are in less fortunate situations. It’s not about the coats. But I’d be willing to bet that every time one of our friends remembers the blessing they got from someone on that corner and where it ultimately comes from, well I’d venture a guess that they know where it all comes from. And it certainly isn’t from us. As my friend Bill always says, we are simply the runners.

And apparently a local church has collection bins set up for this ministry. Someone dropped off a few bags of things today for our fiends. From Glad Tidings. I never imagined what this would look like after a year. How could we know? But now? It’s just moving along and God has His hand all over it. I found a place that gives away free bibles. Just have to pay shipping. Seven bucks a case. So now we have people committed to several cases. We set up tables to give them away. Along with Pocket Testaments. Also free and free shipping! How cool is that?! Very! God has us covered. Just have to be there. Make the effort. Even on weird days like today. Seemed like we were no sooner finished setting up, praying and beginning the whole affair, and I looked around and everyone was gone. And it was just me and Nick and one of his buddies tossing a football on the sidewalk…waiting for Robin to finish a conversation with Ugu. Ya know, the more some things change, the more they stay the same. Back when we were in church on Sunday, lots of times I’d get to the point where I would literally pull the car around the front of the church and wait on her. Yep , I was one of those guys. Today? The van was already there. And we were once again waiting on her. And it was a good thing. A God thing, I love Him with all my heart and I just cannot imagine where we’d be as a family if we weren’t involved in this great work of His. Can’t imagine…

Anyway, I could ramble on and on. I won’t. Just have lots to be thankful for today. Lots. And this time of year it’s especially important to remember, for me at least, just how blessed I am. Gotta give back. Have to. God has smiled on me in ways I simply don’t deserve. A great family, a beautiful home, a terrific job and a wonderful relationship with His Son. I am indeed a blessed man.

Matthew 25:34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

Joyful Ramblings...

Year two. Something about those two simple words just make me smile. Today we embarked on our second year of service to the good folks in the downtown community, but more importantly, to God. What a joy it’s been this past year. What a total blessing to Robin, the kids and myself. You know how weeks and months seem to get away from you at times? Well it’s getting away from me at breakneck speed these days. This past year or so has been incredibly challenging at times in so many ways. Spiritually challenging, in the sense that I have never been more challenged in my entire life that in this past year. On so many levels. It’s been a challenge also from a time aspect. As in not enough hours in a day. We all have that problem, but man does it seem to wear on me at times. It’s been a busy year. And lots of important milestones have come and gone for us. My oldest son turned 13 this year. That is indeed a milestone. And a challenge for sure. But he is a great kid. He is, however 13. Anyone with a 13 year old knows the deal. I also finished school this year. Another milestone. Never realized how much time that would take. Seems as though I might have a little "free time" on my hands. Yeah, right. :) Robin and I celebrated 16 wonderful years together this year. Time does indeed have a way of getting by us.

But one of the most important milestones for me personally, was the recent completion of our first year of service in this ministry to our Lord and Savior. Serving in this ministry has been an unbelievable mission experience and a truly humbling experience for me in so many ways. I could not begin to recount all the experiences of the past year. Thousands of meals, thousands of handshakes and hugs, hundreds of conversations, lots of prayer, and just genuine love and fellowship on a downtown street corner in Omaha, Nebraska. Who would thunk it? Not me. Not just a few short years ago. But now? He’s got us working for Him and it is nothing but Joy, with a capital J! I talked to a fellow today who asked for a pair of boots last week. Starting to get winterized here. Boots, coats and gloves are becoming the items of choice. I remember spending hours last year shopping at local Goodwill stores and various thrift stores looking for coats and winter gear. This year? Not so much. I must have a couple hundred coats in my garage. This thing is just happening now. God is blessing us with so much that I am just in disbelief at how blessed we really are. So John needed boots. Got some of those in the garage also. Been "collecting" them. Knew the time was coming. So as I meet with him on the street, he thanks me profusely. And I tell him that the thanks needs to go to the One who is responsible for all we do. And his response? He’ll do that, but he just hugged me and told me how thankful he was that we were there. He said that they talked about us coming down on Sundays. They looked forward to Sunday. Because we brought Joy down with us. Yep. Capital J. Because to me, that Joy is obviously straight from Christ. In fact, that Joy is Christ. Now this fellow is one of the nicest guys. Very soft spoken, with a bit of a southern drawl. And when he told me that we bring Joy to the park on Sundays, all I could do was smile and agree. Because we do. But it’s not from us. We absolutely love what God has us doing. But it’s all about Him. Has nothing to do with us. Heck, I can hardly manage my way through the day, much less pull something like this off. So when I tell him and all those we serve and are in fellowship with who the thanks needs to go to, they get it. Another fellow, Gary, just laughed today when I told him we are simply the legs. God’s legs. Big shoes to fill on those legs. For sure. But I love where He has us. I come home on Sundays and I feel like I’ve been in the House of the Lord. It’s good.

The boy scouts came down today. What a great troop! They cooked the entire meal, and handled most of the serving. Which gave us "regulars" even more time to fellowship with our friends. They brought tons of soup. Mexican chili, taco soup, whatever they called it, the folks in the park raved about it. What a deal! I saw some of them going around picking up trash, serving, and doing what scouts do. What a blessing to have them there today. And what a great meal they prepared. It’s nothing short of amazing to me how many people want to help. Their scout leader saw our ad at my office and volunteered his boys to come and do the deed. And they did it up right!

Here’s something that almost broke me up today. There’s a fellow who comes down pretty regularly. We’ve known him for about a year now. They call him Turbo. He goes all out all the time. I’d guess he’s in his late 40s? Early 50s? Now this guy is one hard worker. Always has a job. Has his own place. But he hangs with a lot of the homeless fellows that we know. Doesn’t have drinking problem. Just a really good guy. About my size, with the most calloused hands of any guy I’ve ever met. Every time I shake his hand, it amazes me how rough and grizzly his hands are. So he and Erin are buddies. Well, Turbo doesn’t hang around here for winter. Can’t blame him. He heads west. Arizona for a few weeks to work a trade show, a week in San Diego to visit mom and then the winter in San Francisco to work. I tell him today that he better not leave without saying goodbye. And he definitely better not leave without telling Erin goodbye. Said he didn’t know if he could do it. Got a little emotional talking about it. A bond has formed between Erin and Turbo. A bond forged by God. Because there is no way a little girl from the suburbs should even know this guy, much less be hanging out with him for a couple hours on a Sunday. But it’s happening. And what a blessing some of these guys have been to my kids. And I’m pretty sure that goes both ways. In fact, I know it does. And the way Erin runs that corner I might start calling her little Turbo!


One last thing and this was really cool. I met a guy today that wanted to come down and help. Said he’s been praying that God would lead him to something where he could be of service. He took some kids from his youth group out on Friday night. They went to some local restaurants to get food to take to anyone who might be hungry in the park. They met my friend Bill. Chance meeting? I tend to think not. So they start talking to Bill about the Bible and things. Well old, Bill reaches into his pocket and takes out his Bible and starts talking back. Blew this guy’s mind. :) And then you know what happened? Bill invites him to come down to the park on Sunday. Now this guy had been praying that God would lead him into some type of service. I think, through Bill, he got his answer. There are so many opportunities. Every week. Well over a hundred, a hundred and fifty, two hundred. Lots of opportunities to be in His service. This fellow just happened to stumble into Bill, otherwise known as Mr. opportunity. What an deal. And Bill invites him down. And today, on our corner, Bill introduces me to Robert. So now, we have guys that we serve and that we are in fellowship with inviting other people down to our corner on Sundays. Unbelievable. Who would have thunk it? Homeless guys inviting street evangelists down to fellowship with us. Too cool…

I’ll end here with a message from Bob. Bob is my buddy from Des Moines. He sent us a note last week to congratulate us on making it to year number two. Here’s his note…
***********************************************
I was there a year ago when ya started. There were just a few of us that first day and we were hungry. I was one that figured us tramps would have burned ya up by now. Obviously not, so that says the mission is not of your own making - but of Our Fathers.
Just let it roll and rest in Christs mercy and graces.
Congrats.
bob
***********************************************
Man, I love that guy…

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

100…100…52…and Butter?

This was a pretty big week for me. I’ve been in a pretty intense accelerated degree program here at Bellevue University and Saturday, I gave my final presentation and turned in my final paper. I’m done. What a great feeling. Because, you see, we moved back to Omaha in July of 2006. In August of that year, I was enrolled in school and it’s been pretty intense ever since. So to be coming up on the end is a pretty good feeling. I also came back here in a contract for hire position at Union Pacific Railroad. I got word last week that I’ve cleared all the hurdles necessary to become a full time employee. December 1, barring any thing really weird happening, I’ll leave the consulting industry and become a regular old working stiff. I’ve been in consulting for over 10 years. It’s taken us from Omaha to Florida to Charlotte, N.C. and now back to Omaha. While it’s been a great ride, I’m ready for a little stability and a little normalcy, whatever that may look like. So all that happened within the past week. And I topped it all off by going on a date with a beautiful young girl on Saturday night. Pssst. Don’t tell Robin. I met this young lady about 7 years ago. I thought we needed to spend a little time together so she might begin to see how a young man should treat her when she begins dating. When she’s 18! Erin and I went to dinner and a movie. In all the crazy times that we’ve had lately, I just really sat across from her at Red Robin and realized how absolutely, unbelievably blessed I am as a father and husband. I simply could not believe that God would entrust to me a beautiful little creature such as this. We had a ball!

And today? 52 weeks! We celebrated our one year anniversary of hanging out on a crazy corner in downtown Omaha with about 150 or our newest friends. I talked about this last week, but it is simply unbelievable to me that we’ve been able to do this thing for a year now. This was a normal birthday Sunday for us, so we combined that with a little one year celebration. As we got ready to pray today, on a downtown corner with all these ladies and gentlemen and I spoke about how blessed we have been in this past year, I almost wanted to thank them for being homeless. Now stick with me here. I don’t for one minute wish that on anyone. But they are. And because of that, we are now forever linked. I did thank them however, for allowing a bunch of us from the suburbs to come into their world on a weekly basis. What were we thinking a year ago? That we could actually make a difference? Well, we knew that with God as our guide, we could certainly be a light in a dark corner. With the hope of Christ’s salvation, we could offer that to anyone who might be willing to listen. 52 weeks! What an amazing year it’s been. When every single night at my dinner table my kids are praying for our friends downtown. By name! When we first started? They’d pray for the homeless. Now? The pray for their friends. Praise God. They get it. Mostly more than me at times.

So today, we celebrated birthdays. For Cedric. And Eric. And us. Our first birthday. Praise God that He would see fit to let us do this wonderful work in His name. This thing is starting to take on a life of its own now. I suppose that’s how it works. Being new to this sort of ministry work, we (or at least I am) are pretty naïve when it comes to figuring out where we are supposed to take it and how it’s supposed to evolve. But in the end, we don’t have to worry about that. It’ll happen because He wants it to happen. Or not. He seems to want it to happen. I talked to a fellow today, Dan, who said he comes to the park once a week. He’s not homeless. He was once I believe. Not now. He comes because it offers him an opportunity for fellowship. He always hugs me and tells me he loves me. And I can tell he means it. And I love him. Heck, I love ‘em all! But I always try to deflect that to a point. As I told all these guys today before we prayed, without an amazing Father, none of this is possible. Without the things we learned at University City Fellowship in Concord, North Carolina, we’d probably be holed up in a church somewhere doing other stuff. But God had a different plan for us. For now, this is our gig. Bringing the love of Christ in a warm meal, some warm clothing and lots of great fellowship. I simply cannot describe what it feels like to pray with all these guys on a weekly basis. It may seem simple. It may seem naïve. But one year ago this was not happening on that corner. It was isolated, barren and somewhat desolate at noon on Sundays. A local church would come by and drop off sack lunches. Literally drop them off at the curb and leave. No fellowship. No conversation. Is that all they deserved? Can’t we do better than that? So as we prayed today, I was in awe at the fact that we are now praying. Together. It’s been a slow process. I’m certainly no preacher. I just don’t think it’s my gift. Now I can talk! Don’t’ get me wrong there. I can certainly do some talking. But preaching? I don’t know. I do know that God will give me the words to say when I need them. He always does. Every time. And today we had guys asking about Tuesday. Our weekly bible study/missional community at The Vine. The relationships are such that we don’t have to necessarily ask people to go. They seem to want to go. We stop by the shelter on our way and pick up a few of the guys that want to go. Guys I didn’t know a year ago. What a year!

So over the course of the last 15 months or so, as I’ve meandered through my degree program, writing 5-10 page papers every week, reading things I would probably never have picked up on my own, I’ve been able to present our ministry in different classes on 3 different occasions. How cool is that? I was in a leadership program. Gave 2 different presentations over the course of a year in that class related to our downtown activities. I just finished a 3 month civic program. Guess what my civic project centered on? Yep. God’s ministry that we just happen to be a part of. So yesterday, I gave my final presentation. Got 100 points on the presentation. And it was easy. Because I love what we do. I love God’s mission in our life. My family is involved in a weekly piece of God’s work that I can’t wait to get to each and every week. I use the word amazing a lot. I can’t help it. It is amazing to me to be able to stand in front of people and tell them about this ministry. So yesterday, after my presentation and along with the great feeling of completion in this program, I get my grade. 100%. For talking about God’s work. I almost felt like I cheated. Ya know what I mean? I mean this was easy to put together. I had pictures of our friends. I had stories. It really was easy. I love the work that he has placed in our laps. He is amazing. And just to show us that He really is the most awesome and amazing Being in the universe? As if he has to? My professor hands me a donation check for $100.00 for our mission. For Gods’ work. I got to stand there and talk about it and then get a great grade and a check to boot. You’ve got to be kidding me. I was speechless.

And butter? Well some guy shows up today and has the following very brief conversation with Robin. We were pretty much wrapping up. He looks at her and says ( and I have to paraphrase…) as he looks over at the serving table where food was laid out just minutes earlier…“you know, that bread…well you know that the Bible says about God being the butter?” Huh? God is the butter? “Well, that bread would be good with some butter”, he says. “Because the Bible says, God is the butter”. I have no idea what that means, but I’ll tell you I laughed all the way home as she told me that story. Me, her, the kids…we laughed so hard all the way home. I’m laughing now as I type this. God is the butter? I don’t know…I just don’t know.

What a week. What a year. We are so blessed. God is so good. I so love Him and all He’s placed before us. What an amazing ministry. And He is the butter! Who would have known...imagine that!

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

A Year in Time…

Sometimes I sit here and I wonder where to start? So much happens during the course of a Sunday that I sometimes simply find myself wondering where to begin? How about the beginning?

One year ago last Sunday, Robin, Christian, Nick, Erin and I sat at the corner of 15th and Douglas St. That’s right. 15th and Douglas. I pretty much knew that our corner would be 14th and Douglas, but that week we sat in our van one block east of the corner that would become our home for a couple hours every Sunday for the past year. We didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable by sitting in the van and staring. So we went a block east. Robin stressing out. Trying to figure out how we would possibly save all these guys. Nick offering up a baggie of Cheerios to any homeless fellow who might be hungry. Me? No idea what we were getting into. Pretty much how I’ve operated most of my life. Ready. Shoot. Aim. Lets just go do it and then see where the nuts and bolts are when the dust settles. So when we were sitting in the van that Sunday afternoon, I knew the adventure we were heading out on would at least be that…an adventure. I had no idea. My goodness, I had no idea.

Here we are a year later and the names and faces amaze me. People coming each week to help. People coming each week to fellowship. People coming each week to eat! Lots of eating. Lots of getting filled. I really wish at times that we kept track of the number of meals served. The numbers don’t really matter, but it would be interesting to know how many meals one could serve on a street corner in downtown Omaha. Just out of curiosity. But more importantly, I wonder how many people have been touched by the mission that God has birthed on that corner. I was talking to a police officer today. Occasionally, we are blessed with the presence of Omaha’s finest. We’ve never had a problem, so to speak. That in itself is a miracle, considering the people that congregate there weekly. He was asking if we planned on continuing our weekly mission there now that the local shelter was opening a day facility. I explained to him that we would continue, as long as it wasn’t a problem. Frankly, they’ll have to drag us off that corner at this point. He was very gracious and was just wondering if we were going to continue. Well, next week will be one year for us. Sure, we’ll go ahead and stay with it Officer, if ya don’t mind. Now mind you, as I’m talking to him, we have music playing (a little David Crowder, to be exact), a pretty sizable crowd gathered, and we’d just finished praying together on that very corner. The Lord’s Prayer. Talked to a fellow last week that offered a suggestion. Said maybe a lot of the guys on the streets with addictions and other problems maybe didn’t know what the words of that prayer meant. So we talked about it a little today. Then we prayed about it. About 150 of us. Man is that cool. So the officer let us go about our business…God’s business.

Talked to a fellow today. He’s been going with us on Tuesdays to our weekly missional community meeting at The Vine. Used to work at Union Pacific. Has a pension coming next year. But for now? Homeless. His mother died yesterday. He was pretty devastated. She was his support system. His words. I got a plate of food for him and gave him my number. Told him to call anytime. My heart ached for him. Absolutely ached. Pray for Dan. He’ll need it. A little later I talked to another fellow. He and his wife live in a tent by the Missouri River. I have no idea how they will manage this winter. And it’s coming. We had a beautiful fall day today, but it’s coming. Winter is coming. They just got back from Florida. Now, they’ve only been here a few months. I know they told me how they got here, but it’s becoming difficult for me to remember all the hows and whys of people ending up here in Omaha and on that corner. So they just got back from Florida. His mother died last week. I have no idea how they got there and back. Didn’t ask. As he told me about his mom, he cried. Hard. I cannot tell you how much I ached for this guy I barely know. Not only do these folks have to deal with their circumstances, they have to deal with these things also. I learned along time ago that there are no words to make a person feel better in these circumstances. We hugged. Hard. And I told him we’d pray for him. All of us. If you’re reading this, you can pray for Sean also. He’ll need it.

One year ago we headed off on a mission that we believe is of God’s doing. His mission for us. We’ve met some incredible people along the way. It has indeed been a ride to remember. I wish I would have written down every name of every person that has come into contact with us in any way, shape or form. I bet the number of names would be pretty long. Godly long. He has a way of placing people in our paths for a reason. I cannot imagine where we’d be had we not listened to His call to our family to go and do. To serve the people that “live” in the park right across the street from my office. His people. The least of those. And as I type that, I have to ask myself what that means. The least of what? These people are good people. Created in His image. Are we not to take care of our own? I often wonder where Jesus would make an appearance if he were to just happen to make a cameo some day. I obviously don’t know the answer. But I have an idea of the people He might seek out. Wouldn’t be someone like me. Probably those that “live” in the park. Maybe not. Who knows? We are just extremely blessed to be there with our friends each week. So blessed. Great people. Great fellowship. Great times. God times. And I’ll pray that we make it another year. But however long He has us in this role, we’ll be there. We have a system in place now. A support system. God supplies the stuff. We supply the hands and feet. And ears. To those in need. And there are lots in need. And prayers. Lots of prayers.

I’m rambling. It’s how I roll. :) I’m just so thankful that God had us where He has us. I miss my friends and church family in Charlotte. Dearly. But we have friends here that we are getting to know a little better with each passing week. It takes time. That we have. I think. So officer? We appreciate you checking in on us from time to time. Never hurts to have a bit of a presence. But as long as He’s directing this thing, we’re kind of fond of this corner. Been here a year now. Can’t wait to see what’s coming!

James 2:15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

What’s the Difference?

I find myself asking that question often these days. What is the difference?

I was so angry this morning as we were heading downtown. I’ve wanted to take a camera down with us for the past few weeks. The trees in the park are really changing colors right now and the scenery is pretty spectacular right now. Now, it’s not North Carolina spectacular where the trees are an absolute painted canopy, but it is still beautiful in its own way. Its own Omaha, Nebraska way! So as we were pulling on to the freeway this morning to go downtown, I realized that I’d forgotten the camera once again. So we called mom. To the rescue once again! How many times in my life has mom come to my rescue? Well, obviously too many to count. What a rock in my life she has been. So I call her and ask her to bring her camera. She says something about batteries and such, but she’ll bring it. Cool.

So we get down there and we start our deal. Our homeless friends are always waiting to help unload. And in a matter of minutes, we are in business. Mom gets the camera to me, which within those short 10 -15 minutes that it took us to get into the downtown area, I forgot again that she was even bringing it! Imagine that! She had to remind me that she had it! Good grief! And then she mentioned the batteries. Now you have to know my mom. I love you mom!! But I may need to invest in some Energizers! So I give the camera to one of the young fellows who was there to do some community service work and ask him to take as many pictures as he could. Well, a few minutes later I see Robin with the camera. Huh? Seems I forgot one important aspect of what it is we do on that corner. Respect. We’ve attempted to be very respectful of all the people on that corner. All the people we share that community time with. We never want to take advantage or make it seem like this is some sort of project. Why are we taking pictures? Several reasons to be honest. I love to be able to put faces to names. One of the things I really strive for is to remember names. Some are easier than others for whatever reason. Pictures help in that regard. Another reason is I just think it’s important to occasionally capture some of these moments in some format or another. Video. Still pictures. Whatever. Just a little reminder of where we’ve been and where He’s leading us. So when he started taking pictures, someone called him on it and he gave the camera to Robin. She then gave it to me and I started asking and receiving permission to snap pictures pretty much at will. One of the most interesting things to me as I came home and started looking at the pictures? Smiles. All around. Smiles.

As I look around on the corner on Sundays, I’m reminded of a song that I really love these days. It’s called the Table of Grace and it’s on a Phillips, Craig and Dean CD – Restoration. The song speaks to God’s amazing Grace. Uses metaphors to describe the awesome Grace that flows so freely…the cup’s always full…the plate’s never empty…everyone’s welcome…at the Table of Grace. Every time I hear this song, it reminds me of our corner. God’s corner. Where the literal cup never seems to run out. We always seem to have enough. Now I’m certainly not equating what we do to God’s Grace. Just that the imagery of the song puts me there. And when we are there, such as today, the mood is always one of cheerfulness and fellowship. And smiles. We prayed together today. Before we serve our Sunday meal, we always pray. Or at least I usually say a prayer offering thanks for all the blessings He sends us with each week. But today we said the Lord’s Prayer. All of us. It was moving to me, to say the least. I can’t describe it. I woke up yesterday morning at 4:00 a.m., which isn’t so unusual for me these days, but the first thing that popped into my feeble brain was to say the Lord’s Prayer with our friends. At 4:00 in the morning. Can’t those kinds of things come at say noon? Anyway, we prayed together and it was very cool.

So what’s the difference? Between an older fellow and a bunch of us from suburbia? What is it that makes our lives so different? I took a bunch of pictures today. But one fellow seemed to show up in several of them. Harry. Great guy. Interesting stories. Tells me he loves the Lord. I have no doubt. Has a drinking problem. Of that I have no doubt either. So what makes us different? Or are we really that different? I mean, I have my issues for sure. I don’t run in the same crowds as Harry obviously, but there was a time when I might have. So what is the difference. Harry is the guy in the picture. With my beautiful little Erin. Is he any different to her? Or is it just my view? And is he really any different? The camera doesn’t lie. Harry is the same kind of different as us. I borrowed that from a book I read recently. But it’s true. He’s got his issues to be sure, but he’s no different. None of these guys are. They might make choices that are obviously not good ones, but haven’t we all done that from time to time? I talked with a young lady today whose story absolutely blew me away. Beautiful, long, red hair. Very pretty. Early 30s maybe? First time I’ve ever seen her. As we talked, and she told me more of her story, it got more and more interesting. She asked for blankets for her boarding room. But only if the guys that lived in the park didn’t need them. Starting to get cold here in Nebraska. Going to be brutally cold on that corner in the coming months. So as she told me more of her story in the approximate 5 minutes we shared, she told me of an abusive relationship…a much publicized trial…a sentencing…involuntary manslaughter…a prison term. Now? Trying to get it back together. So what’s the difference? Is that what it takes to make it to our corner? But she knows the Lord. Praise God. She struck me as someone who will get out of her situation. Harry? Not so much, but who knows? We’re not naïve enough to think that all of these guys will somehow get out of the situations they are in. But some of them will. Of that I am sure. Just want to be there to see it and hear about it.

I guess that’s the difference. We get to be there to hear of the failures and the successes. We get to be a small, small part of it all. Of God’s plan for our friends. We get to go to Tuesday Bible studies with any of them that want to go. We are blessed with the wisdom that comes in droves from some of our friends. Life’s wisdom. God’s wisdom. Occasionally someone will say something to me on that corner that blows my mind. Usually something really simple. But almost always very profound. That’s the difference. I am so in awe that we are getting into deeper fellowship with our new friends and we are so blessed to be the recipients of their love and His love. So in the end? There is no difference. We just take our troubles to different resting places. Us to our quaint little suburb. Harry to his tent down by the river. Physically? Way different. But I look at the picture and I see the two worlds colliding. And I realize that there really is no difference. And Erin will tell you so.

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

A 700 Pound Gorilla?

Another great day today. It was an interesting day for us as a family. Our normal Sunday routine involves Robin cooking something on Sunday mornings for our meal with our friends in the downtown homeless community. This week? Not so much. No cooking in the Laney household today. Our great friend Clark offered to cook the entire main course. It was because of his generosity that we were able to alter our normal Sunday morning just a bit. And here’s why. You see, when we began this adventure almost a year ago, I’m not sure we ever went so far as to think we’d never be in a church again. We just knew at the time that God was steering us in a bit of a different direction. In His time. And He still most certainly is. But after a year of God selling His vision to people, His vision of getting out in the world and taking His love and His message to our friends in the park downtown, we have gained quite a few folks that are willing to show up with us on Sundays and help do the work that He first led us to do. So because of this, our family has been able to miss a Sunday here and there and have someone cover for us and it’s worked like a charm so far. One of the things we strived to do in the beginning was make this thing we do so easily duplicated, if we missed a Sunday or ever felt led in a different direction, someone or a group of someones could easily pick the ball up and carry on. It’s certainly not rocket science. Anyone can do it. Just takes a little initiative I suppose and the desire to fulfill what we believe to be God’s plan for us. So this morning? Since Clark offered to do the main meal and we had no cooking to do this morning, we did all the other prep work yesterday and finished up early this morning. Around 10:00 this morning we headed out to the downtown area. Now we normally leave our house around 11:30ish. Not this morning. Our destination? Church. Yep. We darkened the door of a church this morning.

We’ve been meeting with a group of folks on Tuesdays for a few months now. God’s plan for sure. Bible study…missional community…small group. Call it what you will, but we get together and talk about God stuff. Life application of God stuff. It’s a great group of people and a great time for discussion. It’s a pretty eclectic group of people. Drug addicts, recovering drug addicts, alcoholics, recovering alcoholics, some of our homeless friends from the shelter, a pastor and his family, and just about everything in between. The Vine. That’s the name of our Tuesday group. It’s definitely an interesting mix of individuals, couples, etc. But they are a community that comes from the church community we visited this morning. For the most part. And they’ve completely accepted us into the group which is very cool. So we decided to visit their church community this morning. As we were pulling up to the chapel where they meet, one of the kids said “Hey, there’s Peter”! Peter was a fellow who went to our church in Charlotte. Young, extremely talented, with a fresh look on life and the world, and driven by Gods’ vision. In fact, there were a bunch of Peters. And KBs. And Mats. And Roberts. You could have taken any one of them out of this church and dropped them into our church in Charlotte and they would have fit right in. The point is this was familiar to us. It was good. And because of the way God has blessed us lately with people willing to jump in and help out, we were able to join in with these guys and have a great morning of worship. So maybe we can do this once or twice a month. Who knows? We just had to get to a point where God would send enough folks to help out so we could keep this thing rolling and maybe find ourselves in community again.

EDIT ADDED 10-22-07

Disclaimer...What I meant to say and should have said...

As I read through this blog again this morning, something struck me. When I mentioned us being in a church and being in community "again", I guess what I meant to convey was it was just nice to be involved in more and different community. You see we definitely have a community. That community meets every Sunday at noon in the park. And that is definitely what I would call our primary community. Those we serve and those we serve with. Because there are people who give of their time and effort tirelessly and it is such an immense blessing to be in community with these great people. And they know who they are. I could certainly go through and name them all, but they know. And more importantly, He knows. The church we visited was simply an opportunity to fellowship a little more with folks we've been meeting with on Tuesdays. Our schedule allowed us the time to do it, so we did. The building is just that. A building. The community can meet anywhere. Our wonderfully devoted community just happens to meet without a building. In a park. So maybe in the future, we can do a little of both. If we can make it work, we surely will.

So I just wanted to say what I meant to say and what I should have said...

END OF EDIT :)

So we were able to go to church this morning and do our other gig with our friends downtown. What a great day. My aunt and uncle and a couple of cousins joined us from Iowa. The usual suspects were there. Serving. Being served. Ugu was back and again telling me how we were there in God’s image. We are now bringing music to add a little of God’s atmosphere to the corner. Something about music that just brings that corner to life for me. In fact a couple of guys were asking if they could rent our equipment for a night. I told them they could rent it for free every Sunday from noon to 2:00. More people from the county doing community service hours. And that is so cool to me. Most of these people that come jump right in and get at it. And most of them are younger kids. I also met a lady from Arkansas named Lorraine who had the most beautiful smile. Not homeless, just there for the opportunity. I talked to a lot of different people. Saw guys shaking in the wind because they didn’t have coats. Winter is coming. Right around the corner. People need winter gear. It’s heartbreaking to see someone who is just cold to the bone. Know that feeling? I’ve been pretty cold before, but I’ve always had a place to go warm up. Some of these guys are out in the elements all day and it breaks my heart to think some of them spend their nights out there also. It’s tough. I had a lengthy conversation with a young couple who need rent assistance. They stay in a weekly boarding room and have fallen behind. Needed help by Monday. Lots of help. Broke my heart to tell them I didn’t know how we could help them. I can certainly pray for them and will. May never know the outcome of that one. Angie and Bobby. That’s who I’ll be praying for, along with a host of others.

The gorilla? 700 pounds? Well, as I was talking to a fellow I’ve really grown drawn to, he mentioned this very thing. Said he had a gorilla on his back. Not a monkey, he said. A gorilla. 700 pounder. Alcoholism. I know that demon. And he wants it off his back. As I look around down there on Sundays, that has to be the overwhelming factor that gets most of these guys to this point. Whatever the addiction is, that would seem to be the most significant factor that contributes to these situations. Seems that way to me anyway. How in the world will these guys ever be able to conquer these demons? Many probably never will. Surely some of them can. By the grace of God. And that’s where we come in. We obviously can’t do anything to “help” most of these guys. But we can certainly be there to try to offer what we know. And what we know is God is waiting for them. With wide open arms. We simply have to be there to tell ‘em. Tell ‘em all about His amazing love …forgiveness…grace…restoration. It’s all there for the taking. We just have to be there to let ‘em know about it. And we will be there. Every Sunday. Noon. Till whenever. And if any of the guys want to “rent” our equipment for the night? Well….

I could go on and on with these weekly journals. I simply try and capture a moment in time for what it looked like from my perspective. That’s all. So much happens on a given Sunday. I could not possibly recount all the things that happen. The conversations that take place. The fellowship that is shared. To think that God took a chance on a family such as ours to be involved in a mission as great as this? Unbelievable. Another fellow, Menelik, was telling me how he walked from the Open Door Mission to meet with us today. That’s a good hours worth of walking. What a deal. What a community. And they are great people to be in community with. Some are a mess. Aren’t we all. I certainly am. Give me a mess any day. That’s where I believe some of God’s most amazing work takes place. Right in the middle of the mess. Yeah…give me the mess.

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

God’s Window of Opportunity

As we geared up to make our 15-20 minute drive to our downtown meeting spot this morning, the rains fell off and on. More on than off actually. In fact, about 3:00 a.m. this morning, the rains came down pretty hard. My Cornhuskers have been losing in pretty impressive fashion the past few weeks and yesterday they experienced their worst home loss since 1958 , so it was only fitting to wake up to rain this morning. Now last week I mentioned how blessed we've been in this regard. Rain is good. But not when you are trying to serve a nice Sunday dinner to 150 or 200 folks on a given Sunday afternoon. And not when you are trying to meet those folks where they hang out most days. Outside. In a park. In downtown Omaha. That's when rain is not good. So today? Looked like it was going to be not good. As we loaded up and prepared to head out, the rain started to come down a little steadier. As we got about halfway to our normal spot? The rains picked up. As I looked out and around at the skies? Didn't look good. At all. We were pretty socked in and had some fairly ominous skies pretty much as far as we could see in most directions. And we have no protection for the serving tables. No type of canopy or anything of that nature. Each time I think about going out and getting one, I ask myself why? Do we not have faith that we can do this thing without cover? Does God not have us covered? Have we been rained out yet? Nope. Sure haven't. So would today be the day?

As we continued making our way downtown, the skies were really not on our side. But strangely enough, as we pulled up to our corner a funny thing happened. Now I'm telling you that if I were to ever question God on this whole outdoor ministry thing as far as weather was concerned, this would be the day. For sure. But as we pulled up? We get out of the van and it's still spitting a little. But then it broke. And stopped. For about an hour and a half, the rain stopped. It was overcast, a little chilly and definitely damp. But the rain stopped. God put out a cover for us. We prayed all the way down that he would let us get in and out and have a Sunday to remember. Of course He did. Doesn't he always?

And today was another birthday Sunday. We were able to celebrate birthdays in the park for those having October birthdays. May seem like not so big of a deal, but the folks on that corner sure seem to like it a lot. Heidi is a lady that we've known for a while now. Turned 49 on October 9th. Today she got to celebrate her birthday with a piece of cake and lots of friends. And lots of love. Because God was there. Blessing us with cover and love. Amazin'!

I was talking to another friend today. Ugu is his name. We've only known Ugu for a few months now. Shorter fellow, from Nigeria I believe. Thick accent. Always smiling. Just a great guy to chat with. After we put out the clothing and things, he came over with a pink stocking cap on. Getting a little colder here with each passing day. I kind of smiled and still do at the thought of him with that pink stocking cap on. Lots of these guys make me smile. In fact as I made my way through the line today greeting all of our friends, I was reminded of how these folks are generally in good spirits on Sundays. And they certainly have reason to not be. Lord knows they have reason. By choice or by circumstance, they have reason. But for the most part, as I have the luxury of making my way through the line and greeting each and every one of them, I almost invariably get a great handshake, a warm hug and a smile. And with the weather today and the possibility that we might get rained on, I wasn't even sure how many people would be there. All of 'em I guess. That line was long! And that was a good thing.

Back to Ugu. As he approached me in his pink stocking cap, he thanked me for all we do. All of us. As he was talking to me, I looked to the area where people are getting plates of food and I see people on the serving side of the table, shoulder to shoulder. It was so weird. It's like they compete to get a spot to serve. And most of them are there to serve because God told 'em, to. He's amazing like that. So as Ugu is talking to me, he thanks me repeatedly. As I always try to do, I tell him not to thank me, but offer thanks to God. Without Him, none of what we do is possible. None of it. And his response to me? I have to paraphrase here and I wish I didn't have to, because Ugu said it so eloquently. He said to me "Dave, you are Him. Because He created you in His image, you are Him. And you are here serving us. You are an image of God in what you do and how you show up every week and serve us, the poor and homeless." What do you do when someone says something like that to you? Besides being humbled? Beyond your imagination? I just smiled really, really big inside and thanked him. Because that is what it is all about. That someone could see God, through one of us, even on a cold, overcast, rainy and dreary afternoon. Even in the midst of what I imagine to be one of the more trying times in Ugu's life? That for a moment on a downtown corner, there would be a bit of brightness that would shine through one of the many people that serve in His name. And there was enough light to brighten that corner from about noon until around 1:30.

And then God said pack it up boys and girls. And the rains started up again slowly. We got our wonderful trailer packed up and I thank God for blessing us with that. What a blessing! And as we stood in the rain chatting with our friend Bill, who always makes sure to show up and hang around until the end, I was reminded once again how blessed we are to fellowship with our friends each Sunday. I am reminded of this often, but when we are standing on a corner and the rain is coming down and we're in no big hurry to leave? He's got us covered. He gave us an hour and a half to do His work today. I wanted more. Don't we always want more? He gives us just what we need. Always. People might think I'm crazy. But I know that He stopped the rain today so we could do His work. The look in Bill's eyes was priceless. We told him it rained on us all the way from our house to the downtown area. It stopped when we got there. It started up again when His work was completed. At least for this day, for us. What an amazing God we serve. Let me say that again. What an amazing God we serve. Thanks God for that window of opportunity today. It would have been easy to half step it. But not when we are serving You. No way. Thanks God.

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)

Community…

I am constantly and continually amazed at the happenings on our downtown corner each week. This morning we pulled up to that corner and it hit me just as it always does what is happening. Each week we have a brand new opportunity for fellowship with people who are ready and willing to hang out with a bunch of suburbanites. It's really strange if you think about it. Robin wrote something this week that explained it so well. 11 months ago? We knew none of these people. In fact, back then, if I would go out for a walk in the afternoon from my office, I would usually avoid them just so I didn't have to deal with the situations that would inevitably arise. You know...got a dollar? Got any change? I'd just as soon avoid the park in those days because I was always confronted with the inevitable. So what was I doing to make a difference for Christ? What was I doing from my nice warm, comfortable home in the United States of Suburbia to really go somewhere and tell people about a love like no other? What was I doing period? Nothing. In fact, I was avoiding the very people that Christ would probably seek out first. The least of those. The poor. The less fortunate. Created in the image of God. Such different circumstances than us, yet so unbelievably just like us. So what was I going to do about it? Well, 11 months later I'm still not sure we can answer that question and that’s probably ok. The beauty of it is that now when I go for a walk on a given afternoon, I go in the direction I avoided just last year. And what a community of individuals we've come to know in just under one short year. It doesn't seem possible that this has been happening for almost a year now. And you know what? I probably shouldn't say this so as to avoid jinxing our weekly outing, but we've not been rained out yet. We even had one of the guys call, give us a weather report of rain all day on Sunday, and ask if we were still coming? Huh? C’mon man. We’ve not missed one yet have we? Now that may not seem like a big deal, but it is amazing to me that not one time in the last year have we been shutout due to weather. We’ve seen blistering heat, arctic cold, blizzards and everything in between. But God has seen fit to allow us to get down there each and every week to fellowship with a community of people that continually amazes me. Now next week we’ll probably have torrential rainstorms, but I don’t think God believes in jinxes. :) And today? No rain. Just great community fellowship.

For instance, today I chatted with a young lady who is going in for surgery tomorrow (Monday) at 11:30. Tumor. Now this young lady was scared. I sat on a wall with her for a bit this afternoon and she was visibly scared. Playing with a plate of food as if she were a child. Pushing her food around and telling me about her situation and all the while, I’m thanking God for placing us in this position. Placing us in the position of sometimes simply being there to listen. Later on before she left, Robin and I prayed with her. The power of that moment is undeniable. The fact that we were blessed to be in a place to pray for this young lady is simply amazing to me.

I stand on that corner sometimes on Sundays and I look across the street at the office building I spend one third of my time in and I wonder if we can do more. Not necessarily from a physical standpoint. That’s important stuff. But from a spiritual standpoint. From an eternal standpoint. I mean, obviously we can do nothing in that regard except offer the window of opportunity. Be there to listen and pray. Offer a Bible to a fellow if the desire is there. I spoke with a friend today who is continuing to read a Bible that he got recently. He’s finished John and Galatians. He’s now reading Matthew. I asked him if that was something he would have been doing maybe a year ago. He looked at me for a minute and shook his head. Now what does that mean? I have no idea. Except that he’s now seeking a little more maybe. And if we can be there to listen occasionally and gently prod some folks in these situations, then you better believe we will. And this in no way diminishes the rash of issues that permeate that park. That corner. It’s almost like walking into a different world sometimes. Crazy. God’s world. Each of them and us created in his image. How amazing is that?!

One thing that I talked about last week with a couple of the guys was the growth that we’ve experienced. One of the fellows that come down on a pretty regular basis was asking how many people help each week. How many people do we bring down? You know what? We never count. Don’t have to. We make sure that the food preparation is taken care of and then we wing it. Every week. And every week we have at least enough people to make it work. If not more. This guy was reminiscing back to the first time we came down and I mentioned that seemed like a lifetime ago. And they were amazed at what it’s grown into. A community. Now the community was always there. Loosely. God just had a way of pulling it together for a couple of hours each Sunday. All we had to do was be available. Be the runners as my friend Bill says. While the park and that corner may have been new to us that day last November, this was where lots of these folks spent lots of their time. Lots and lots. When we showed up, word began to spread. God has a way of doing that. There’s no other way to say it. And now we have some of the most amazing people showing up for community fellowship and I am in awe of the things that are taking place. We are picking friends up at the shelters for group discussions and Bible studies. People that we didn’t know a year ago. Friends that we met on a corner in a park in downtown Omaha. We are attempting to share the love of Christ with our friends in a different type of community setting than I’ve ever been involved in. Yet somehow it works. Again, God has a way of making this work. Just needs vehicles. Runners. Legs. Hands and feet.

And now we are also involved with another community of people who God hooked us up with in a big way. Our Tuesday group at the Vine. A great group of people who seem to be on the very same tracks that we are on. Where will it lead? Who knows? But we’re on for the ride and it has been an amazing journey so far. Best thing we can do? Buckle up because it seems seat belts will be a community necessity for this trip. :)

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)