Thankful!

So yesterday was a normal Sunday for the Laney clan. By normal, I mean the usual Sunday morning activities. All revolving around our normal downtown activities. Robin whipped up a mess of sloppy joes. Actually, she used ground turkey, so technically, they were sloppy toms? Enough to feed at least 150 of our friends. People donated and made potato salad by the buckets. Tater chips, lemonade, Panera pastries, and cookies from the Wal-Mart just to be sure we had enough. Stuff like that. We had lots of clothing donations last week also.

One fellow, Chris, who works as a conductor at Union Pacific, donated his late father’s entire wardrobe to our cause. This is not the first time this has happened. In fact, if I recall correctly, this is the third time that someone has donated the clothing of their father to our cause. Now let me tell you something. I spent some time Thursday afternoon in a fellows apartment who passed away recently at the ripe old age of 54. Mr. Galvan. I believe his first name was Dean. I met his son at his place and we proceeded to load our van with the remainder of his father’s clothing, shoes, etc. As we are looking at his dad’s stuff, you can’t help but have a variety of really strange thoughts. I mean, this is someone’s life we are looking at here. Deep. He died recently from cancer. 54 years young. That is 10 years older than me. 10 years can pass by in a flash. I look at my life and wonder what the heck I’ve done for 43 years. What will my legacy be? Does it really matter? Mr. Galvan lived very modestly from my brief and cursory look at his belongings. He was an ex-marine, an avid Cornhusker fan and apparently, lived just above the poverty level. I don’t know for sure, but it seems you can tell a lot about a person by the way they lived their life. And when it’s all said and done and only the stuff remains, what will your story tell? Another family recently donated their father’s stuff to us also. In this case, the daughter worked at UP also and she simply brought his stuff in bags to work and we made the transfer at our respective cars. All of his remaining clothing in a few large plastic bags. Several large bags, but according to her, that was it. What remains of our existence when all the stuff is gone? And yet another person did the same thing back in December. A person who works in the Marketing department at Union Pacific noticed my ad on the electronic bulletin board at work. “Needed - men’s clothing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.” It’s that simple. And it gets responses. Sherry called me one morning back in December. At the time, we had only been at this about a month or so. Man have we learned a lot in 6 months. Man do we have a lot to learn! So Sherry calls and says even though she rarely looks at the board, she noticed the ad and wanted to donate her father’s clothing. He was a crane operator here in Omaha and had passed away about a year earlier. She was finally ready to part with his clothing and would we be interested? I have to tell you how odd it is to see the entire wardrobe of a fellow and wonder what his life must have been like? Especially the last few years. Now these folks were a little better off. Nicer house in the western part of the city. As we sat and chatted that evening with Sherry and her mom, it became apparent that her father had a heart for the less fortunate. He volunteered at local missions. Did things of that nature. So this was a pretty good match. Our fledgling ministry. Their desire to find the right place to donate his remaining things. Recently Sherry told me her mother was downtown and was searching to see if her late husband’s clothing was anywhere in sight. It’s not hard to spot the homeless guys in downtown Omaha. They hang out in the park pretty much all the time. I think she was disappointed not to see any of his things, but I assured her that they went to a good cause.

At Mr. Galvan’s apartment, things were in pretty much disarray, as you would expect. Boxes lying about. Furniture in odd places. Just very unsettling to go in after the fact and see someone’s remaining things in that state. So as I’m sorting through Mr. Galvan’s things yesterday in my garage, I’m having all sorts of feelings. What were his last days like? When was the last time he maybe wore one of the many hats his son so generously donated to our cause? The guys who will be the beneficiaries of these things have no idea where this stuff comes from. They just know that they have little clothing to call their own and here’s a chance for them to pick up a few things with no strings attached. I mention this often. I don’t ever want to be consumed with the stuff we bring down. But here’s a question for ya. What if, for some reason, today was your last day? What story would your stuff tell? Lord help me with mine! I shudder to think what story my stuff would tell. If a stranger were to come in and sort through the things I would leave behind? I mean, it’s not like there is some sordid thing lurking that I don’t want anyone to know about. But it is a little creepy, nonetheless. You know what I mean? Just a few things to think about.

So what happens when a homeless guy leaves this gigantic ball of dirt? We haven’t had to deal with anything like that yet. It’ll happen though. We’ve heard of a fellow who passed out in the elements last winter and died of exposure. We didn’t know him though. We did know a fellow who had the same thing happen, but he was rescued before the inevitable happened. He “only” lost a couple of toes to frostbite. “Only”. It forced him to look at things a little differently though. That’s for sure. If I understand him correctly, he hasn’t had a drink since that fateful day. It’s a start, but it’s a shame that something so preventable had to happen. So what of a homeless guy who passes away? Who gets the backpack? Lots of times, all their worldly goods can be carried in a single backpack. Pretty perplexing if you ask me.

I have to tell you this also. We had people donate men’s suits to us last week. I hung them on a tree branch along with all the other buckets of clothing that we brought down. Someone took a couple of them. It never ceases to amaze me what these guys need or want. I have given up on trying to assume I might know. I have no idea. If you have something, somebody down there needs it. I remember one of the first weeks we were doing this. Someone donated a men’s suit to the cause. I hung it in my garage with all the other stuff we had and wondered why in the world a person would donate a suit to a cause such as this. I even made a comment in the garage that Sunday along those lines. What in the world would a homeless guy need a suit for? Well the person who donated the suit just happened to be helping us that week. She just happened to be in the garage when I made that comment. Jackie, if by some chance you read this blog, I apologize for that stupid comment. I had no idea what these folks needed. I thought I did. I don’t. Heck, I have no idea what I need, much less these guys we are so humbled and honored to serve. Anyway, they need suits. What for? Job interviews? I don’t know. Whatever. They need ‘em. Or at least, they can use them.

So three gentlemen. 3 drastically different sets of circumstances. Lots of guys downtown that benefit from the generosity of others. And I mean much generosity from lots of people. All over. Donations from a great lady in Philadelphia. From Boise Idaho. From Anniston Alabama. From right here in Omaha. What an amazing ministry we have been blessed with. What an array of feelings sometimes. From going through the belongings of a fellow who recently passed away to walking up 14 flights of stairs at work because a guy on the 18th floor has a check he wants to donate. I know, there are elevators, but I am just blown away by the amazing things that are happening in this thing God has placed in front of us. Amazing. And yesterday, Rosemary brought tomato plants. TOMATO PLANTS!!! Rosemary saw our story a few weeks ago on the local news. She has been faithfully joining us on Sundays ever since. So yesterday? She brings a half dozen or so tomato plants. I see guys heading back to the shelter with their Big Boys, or whatever kind they were. Homeless guys walking away with suits and tomato plants? You tell me. What a deal!

So today is Memorial Day. Lots to be thankful for. Primarily that we live in a country where God is alive and well. That we are allowed to congregate on a corner in downtown Omaha and share the love of Christ with our brothers and sisters who share that corner with us. That people have given their lives so that we can do this sort of thing every Sunday. We are truly blessed to be in this situation. That a fellow like Dean Galvan served his time as a Marine so that we could enjoy the freedoms we are so blessed to have. We are so blessed. Thanks be to God and to all those who serve and who have served this great land of ours. And thanks to all those who serve in this ministry in any way, shape or form. God bless you!

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

…”it matters to that one”… :)

The Pee-Pee dance, Paninis and Jim?

Sooo..where to start this week? Yet another crazy week for the Laneys. My man Nick finished his spring flag football season at the Y. He did pretty well, scored 3 touchdowns last week. Nick is definitely my little sports maniac. Christian is picking up the golf thing and doing pretty well, I should say. Very awesome to know that if he sticks with it, we'll have something we can do together for life. That's the great thing about golf. I've played with older fellows on many occasions, and it seems the older some of these guys get, the straighter they hit 'em. We could all take a lesson from them. Christian and I played a delayed birthday round last Saturday. We were supposed to play a little golf on his birthday, but I woke up sick and we just didn't get to it. So we played last Saturday at a par 3 course just up the road a bit from our house. We pretty much had the course to ourselves. It didn't start off so well for Christian as he was spraying balls everywhere, but slowly we got his alignment right and I let him use my 5 wood and before you know it, he's hitting 'em long and straight. If you've ever golfed, you know that's all you need to keep going back. A few good drives in a round of 18 holes pretty much negates all the other bad shots. I'm blessed to have a couple of great sons. God has been so good to Robin and I. And Of course there's Erin. What more can a dad say about the most beautiful little girl he's ever seen? She's my sweetheart. Yesterday, after we finished our Sunday activities in the park, we decided to head down to the slides. They have a couple of huge slides at the opposite end of the park where we meet every Sunday and the kids are always begging us to go slide when we finish. Yesterday we gave in and walked the couple of blocks to the slides. As we got closer, Erin started doing the pee-pee dance. If you are a parent, you know that dance. And she's not real shy about it either. So she and I head to a Hilton Garden Inn a couple of blocks away to use their facilities. If you are a parent, you know the drill. The closer you get the more urgent the need. So by the time we get to the front door, I'm carrying her and we are almost in a slow jog. We get in, avert a disaster and everything is ok. As we are walking back to the play area, it dawns on me just how blessed I truly am. I'm walking along with a beautiful little creation of God and it is my responsibility to keep her safe, to raise her as God would have me raise her, and to be the best father that I can be. I'm not sure how I'm doing in that regard, but man is it scary when you break it down like that?! I mean, I try and never take my kids for granted. I know the responsibility is the most awesome one that God will ever place on me. To bless me with this little angel, or my boys, and to place upon me the responsibility of raising them in a Godly way? What does that mean? How do you know if you are setting them up for the rest of their life? Are you building their foundation? All thanks to the Lord that they have an awesome Mother!! She is the rock upon which they will always be able to lean.

Which brings me to this. Not a good lead-in, but...I make a feeble attempt to capture, on a weekly basis, a snippet in time of what actually happens for us on the corner of 14th and Douglas Street on Sundays. I usually try to throw my thoughts together early Monday morning after I've had time to actually digest what happened the previous day. If you've read any of my previous ramblings, you are probably vaguely aware of what it is we are doing on that corner on Sundays. We are simply trying to be the Hands and Feet of our Lord. Nothing more and nothing less. We try to be on that corner every Sunday at noon without fail. So far we've been very successful in our endeavors, depending of course on how one defines success. To me, one definition would have to go something like this. Listening to His call, acting upon that call, and doing so regardless of where it may take you. The results so far have been nothing short of amazing. I believe that is what we have attempted to do. We sometimes (or I should say I) feel the need to drive, but I usually am humbled rather quickly when that happens. I hope that I can honestly say that in this endeavor, I have been purposefully intentionally about stepping back and letting God drive. That is the only way we'll experience success for the greater good.

Yesterday, we had a big crowd. It seems that with the nicer weather, the numbers of folks showing up on a weekly basis have been growing. We usually plan for around 100-125 people. We rarely, if ever, go home with food, so the planning, along with His provisions, seems to be hitting the mark. As you would expect. We've not been real intentional about actually counting the number of meals served, because I just don't think it really matters. It's always nice to know, but not terribly important. I mean, we have to plan, so we try to get a good idea, but there are so many variables. Yesterday, however, Robin counted the number of plates before we left our house. After all was said and done, it seems as though we used 143 plates. Some had seconds. Turkey casserole! They always comment on how good the meals are. I guess the point here is that no matter what we do, He provides for all our needs. We get a bread donation from Panera every Saturday night. We noticed a couple of months ago as we were waiting for the bread that they were throwing away leftover panini sandwiches. So, now when we pick up the bread on Saturday nights, I wrap leftover panini sandwiches. Usually around 25 or 30 sandwiches. We try keeping them back until the very end in case someone shows up that hasn't eaten. But we normally have enough to "feed" whoever shows up. Again, the coolest thing about what we do is the simple, yet absolutely huge fact, that He continually provides everything we need right when we need it. Robin also has discovered that our great friend Sara at Heart Ministry Center is going to be able to provide us with yet more of our needs. Sara has been so great at helping us in so many ways. It now appears that she is going to help us even more with more food items and such. Success...

Yesterday, something really cool happened. Real briefly, here's how my time on Sundays goes. I try to have the van loaded by 11:00 or so. Usually takes a couple of hours to get all the sorting and loading complete. We try to be out of our house by 11:30ish. As soon as we pull up on the corner, we have lots of help unloading the goods. It only takes a few minutes to set everything up, give thanks for the many provisions we are blessed with and begin serving. At this point, as we usually have lots of people helping on the serving side, I try to go through the line of people waiting and meet, re-introduce, or just say hi to an old friend. I say old friend because we've known some of these guys for 6 months now. We go way back! Anyway, it's tough to keep all the names straight. When a fellow introduces himself as Bozak, well, that's an easy name to remember. Darwin? Menelik? Turbo? All easy names to remember. But give me a John, a Jim, a Bill...it gets a little harder. For some reason, I remember some more so than others. The memory just ain't what it used to be. Anyway, a few weeks back, I met a fellow named Jim. Robin asked me who he was? What does he look like? I don't know? He looks like a lot of the other faceless, nameless, homeless guys that we hang out with on that corner. Pretty tall guy. About 6' 2" or so. Kind of slightly built. Usually wears a pair of sunglasses and a hat. Pretty hard to pick out in a crowd actually. But for some reason, I remembered his name from the get go. Don't know why. But he was impressed that I remembered his name from the start. Seems that sometimes all these guys want is a friend. Someone who knows their name and who'll have a kind word for them. Maybe a prayer request. Maybe just a handshake. But, yesterday, as I was wrapping up in the Hygiene Distribution Center (or passing out bars of soap, deodorant, toothbrushes, etc. from the side of the van :)), Jim made a point to talk with me. He purposefully waited for me to finish up and just wanted to share something with me. Now I have to admit, lots of time when this sort of thing happens, it usually means the guy has a need. Needs a backpack, or a sleeping bag, or a pair of sneakers. And, honestly, I sometimes think "not again...not another need"...I hate to admit that, but it is sometimes how I feel. It gets a little overwhelming at times. Not this time, however. As I hesitantly invited Jim into a conversation, he actually had something really cool to share with me. This is why we do what we do. Jim said that what we were doing has made a difference in his situation. He said that watching what we were doing in the name of God has made a difference in his life. Now I don't know exactly what that means. He said that he was going to turn it around this time. You know what? I believe him. I have no reason not to. I don't know him well enough to know otherwise. All I know is that it mattered. It mattered to me and I thank God that Jim stopped by long enough to share that with me. And that I didn't turn him away by not listening. It's so hard down there sometimes, because there are so many of them and so few of us. Proportionally speaking, of course. We've had so many people lately step up and help out. It is so cool that while we are doing this, people like Jim are watching and maybe seeing that it really does matter. Who knows what'll happen with Jim? I have high hopes. He wants to know how he can give back when the time is right? I told him we'd get that figured out when the time was right. That is my hope here. That the good folks we serve will one day be able to give back. We are getting there. I'm sure of it. When things like this happen, I'm even more convinced. Jim is going to be a success story. And you know what? There are lots of Jims...

So, this week, good things. All weeks...good things. This ministry has taught me lots of things. Not the least of which is this - even when things seem to be tough, ya gotta keep going. It would be really easy to just one day decide we've had enough. Real easy. But the thing is, we've established a situation now where people depend on us for about one hour every Sunday. Now if we didn't show up, they'd find someplace else to go. But we do show up, so they do also. If it weren't a good thing, they wouldn't walk over. It's not like these guys hop in their cars and go through the drive-through. Some of them walk a few miles to get there. All because God continues to provide exactly what we need when we need it.

Sorry for the ramblings...I have no idea how I got from Erin's pee-pee dance to panini sandwiches to Jim's testimony yesterday. It all just kind of runs together. But it's all a part of the mission. Here's a verse from the book of James that I've been contemplating this past week. From James, chapter 2..."What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 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? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead". This verse kind of sums it up for me. We hope to put our faith into action every week. I think Jim sees it. I hope he does. That's why we do what we do. All praise to God!

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

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

Hopefulness or Hopelessness?

How does a person keep from getting brought down when dealing with those who seem to be mired in a sea of hopelessness? Heres' what I mean. We have been very diligent about serving in what we believe to be God's mission for us. For Robin, myself, Christian, Nick, Erin and all the other fine folks who have jumped on board in whatever form or fashion. And lots of people have stepped up to the plate. Brian and Tracy, Mike and Enza, Jan and Paul, Geri, Bob and Dee, Michelle, Rosemary, Clark, Russ and Jackie, Fred and Theresa, Sonney, Margie, Andrea and Katie, Janice, Gina, Rick, John, Edwin P...the list goes on. If I forgot a name, it wasn't intentional. You know who you are. We've received countless donations of clothing, money, food, etc. If you've been involved in any way, God bless you! You are serving the some of the people who need it most. One of the things I find difficult right here and now is not getting dragged down. What I feel a lot of lately is this - how can we do enough to help these people? Are we doing enough? Are we fulfilling His mission and carrying out His plan? How does a person know? Doesn't matter what form of Godly worship a person is involved in as far as I'm concerned. Are you completely carrying out His plan? And in our case, are we doing all He would have us do for the people He so loves? And as important, how do we keep from getting pulled into a sea of desperation? How do we maintain and stay the course of hopefulness in a valley of hopelessness? Tough questions for me.

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Obviously. So we carried out our normal routine. I'm out in our garage by 9:00 sorting and loading. We have a pretty good routine by now. It gets a little less stressful all the time, as far as the preparation goes. We have a pretty good system. Robin does her cooking gig, we brew lots of coffee, Christian has taken on the new task of making lemonade for 100-125 people, Nick gets to fold socks and Erin just does whatever. She's 6. All she has to do is look cute and she does her thing. Everybody gets involved. It's part of the mission. The cool thing is the kids really get it. I know that may be hard to believe and they do their share of whining occasionally, as we all do. But they get it. Hardly an evening goes by where my man Nick doesn't pray for "the guys downtown" during our dinner prayer. He's 9. Remember, Nick was ready to distribute his bag o' Cheerios the first Sunday we went down. So he gets it. They love going down on Sundays. They help out wherever needed. Yesterday, Christian worked in the serving line for an hour. Before he went wading in the pond water. Got in a little trouble for that one. He's 13...can't expect him to pay heed all the time.

So here's one for ya. Brenda. Chilie. Her name is Brenda. Her nickname is Chilie. I don't know if that's how you spell it, but we'll go with it. Anyway, Chilie has been coming around for the better part of the past 6 months. In fact, yesterday was unofficially our 6-month celebration of serving and being a part of God's mission on that corner. So as far as Chilie goes, she's a beautiful lady. She says she comes from New Orleans. As the story goes, she lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. I can't remember how she ended up in Omaha. Not really important. She's here. So she shows up pretty much every Sunday. I would guess she's in her 50s? I don't know. Again, not really that important. The thing about her is that we've had a few issues with how she "takes" some of the provisions God so freely blesses us with each week. Look, we are simply trying to be a pass through organization, if you know what I mean. People make donations to us and we pass those on to the folks in need. As the weeks and months have progressed, we've gotten to know people a little better. Gotten to know more of the mannerisms and things that make up the personalities. Started developing relationships. And of course, in the process, discovering what makes some people tick and such. Yesterday, I think I finally figured out a little more about our friend Chilie. There have been times when she's taken 2 or 3 coats or a couple of pairs of shoes and it caused a little consternation on our part. Look, we are not the "controllers" of the provisions. We simply want to make sure that those who need, get. And that they absolutely realize that none of this is remotely possible without the love and grace of Christ. There are lots who need. We can't always fulfill the need. We try. People have been so generous and caring. It never ceases to amaze me how we continually get exactly what we need when we need it. The thing we try to be aware of is making sure everybody gets a little something. I know it's just stuff. Never want to be caught up in the stuff. But when you have nothing, stuff becomes a little more important. For us, we simply want to help those who need it the most. Some of these guys work. They just can't make ends meet. They aren't homeless because they woke up one day and decided to become so. At least I don't think that's how it works. I mean, there are obvioulsy other circumstances at play here. Alcholism, drugs, etc. In Chilie's case, if the story is as told, then she is a real victim of circumstance. The only reason I have any hesitation about her story are the possible contradictions in various stories we've heard from her. Whatever. She's here. We're here. Our paths have crossed. We are now obligated to share the love of Christ with Chilie. It's more of a privlege than an obligation. And it's easy to do with her, because we know she is a believer. The difficult thing about this situation is not knowing for sure where she is coming from. If you've ever dealt with people in this kind of life circumstance, you can really sense the need to gather stuff. If a box of clothing is placed out, they immediately go into almost a hunting and gathering mode. I can't really do justice to the mood surrounding the provisions we bring and distribute, but if you saw it, or if you've seen it, you'd know what I mean. It's not a bad thing. And it's not chaotic or anything like that. Just pretty deliberate. It just is what it is. People need things. God has so blessed us provisionally with the things people need. I've long ago stopped thinking I had a handle on what these folks may or may not need. I had someone ask me for a harness for a large dog last week. Anyone have one? :)

So back to Chilie. We usually spend right around an hour and a half on that corner every Sunday. So from 9:00 a.m. until around 2:30 in the afternoon, after we've dropped the remaining bread donation off at the Sienna Francis House, we are in our element. But the actual good stuff happens from around noon to about 1:30. Yesterday was taco/nacho Sunday. I'm sure the missions really appreciate us serving these types of food, if you know what I mean! These guys had heaping plates of food and I didn't hear any complaints. We learned from our church family at University City Fellowship and our friends Mat and Trent and the guys that started the ministry in downtown Charlotte, that one of the keys here is to serve a real meal. I mean something you'd serve your own family. And you know what? These guys are our family. I mean we're all in this thing together, right? It might take a little extra, but they so appreciate it. One young lady, Jodie, who shows up on a regular basis, told me yesterday how much she appreciates the variety of different foods that we bring down. I told her to make sure she thanked Robin and the ladies who plan the different meals. Sometimes I hear them talking about a particular meal and I wonder how in the world we'll pull it off. We always do because He allows us that privilege. Anyway, as we were in the midst of our activities, Robin calls me over. Chilie was finishing up her lunch and had given Robin a card. A Mother's Day card. The envelope simply said "To: You". I know she knows our names, and I know she knows Robin's name. But it just said "To: You". So Robin opens the card. It's a Mother's Day card to Robin because Chilie says that she is just like a mother to lots of these folks. I look around and I see maybe what she is talking about. There are lots of guys down here who probably haven't spoken to their mothers in years. Or maybe they have, but here they are on Mother's Day under the shade of the trees, in the park downtown having a bit of a picnic lunch. Tacos, nachos, lemonade, coffee, dessert, stuff...all from our Father. On Mother's day. And Chilie gives Robin a Mother's Day card. And we see old friends and new friends. Guys that come and go. Might see them sparingly. They might show up every week. Chile shows up almost every week. From what we know, she has a brother or two here. And as the story goes, she has donated a kidney to one of them recently? And, apparently she has some type of cancer? I want so badly to believe in these folks. But the inconsistencies make that a bit difficult. One story one week. Maybe a different story the next. It's really difficult to know which way is up sometimes. It's really difficult to not get dragged down.

But yesterday, as we were finishing up, Chilie came to the van with an empty box. We had several boxes of snacks for the folks to take with them for later. Granola bars, gummy bears, cereal bars, all sorts of stuff, compliments of the great folks at Heart Ministries. So Chilie comes over to the van with an empty box and grabs a different box of snacks. I watch her as she ambles off and starts handing out snacks. And it dawns on me. It wasn't a chorus of angels or a parting of the clouds or anything like that. No huge revelation. Just a thought that hit me. And we kind of thought all along that this might be the case with her. I think she simply gets joy out of helping people. Not unlike us. I think she really just wants to help. Maybe it fills her with joy to help. I think it does for sure. Look, the "stuff" is provided to us, so we just need to make sure it gets where it needs to be. She can help us in that regard. We can help her help others. It's pretty simple.

So how? How do we stay the course when we sometimes feel like we are being dragged down? Well, that's where you come in. If you made it this far, would you pray for us? Pray that God would put us in situations where we cross paths with like minded people. Robin and I are going to join a Tuesday evening small group this week. It's with a church here in Omaha that is on a similar mission. We've met with them a couple of times, and they seem to be on a similar path. The path that leads to helping those who are in rough situations. The key for us is to be intentional in our journey. We have to be in fellowship and prayer with those who are on the same journey. Pray for us if you will that God will bless us in these endeavors. That he will place on our minds and hearts the things we need to be successful in this mission. That we will not lose the faith. That we will stay the course. A great friend of ours told us recently that it is easy to start a ministry such as this. The difficult thing is to keep it on track. To stay the course. To keep the faith. We are 6 months young. We have learned immensely in those 6 months. We have much to learn. The journey will continue. Pray for us...please?

Peace and have a great and blessed week

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

Foundations...

So, we moved into a house in Omaha last year after our departure from Charlotte. One of the things we looked for was a neighborhood with lots of kids. That was certainly one of our main priorities, as least from my perspective. Well, we were very successful in that regard as we have neighbor kids coming out of the woodwork most days. They must breed like rabbits around here, because they are everywhere. They just keep coming. The cool thing is that it appears they like to be at our place, so at least we know where our kids are. One of the things they like about our house, apparently, is the backyard. We have a pretty good-sized backyard. At the very back of the yard is a landscaped area where the previous owner built a storage shed, a small pond, and a wooden playset area. The playset is built nicely, and is built in a giant sandpit. Well, as a dad, I hate sand. Gets everywhere, ya know? We lived in Florida for a while and I had my fill of sand there. In the cars, in the house, every-stinkin'-place. So the sandpit is not one of my favorite things. However, the kids love it, and I love my kids, so by default, I must love it also, right? Anyway, the whole area is landscaped with landscape pavers, so there are some pretty extensive walls and such. If I were guessing, I'd say a couple thousand dollars went into the pavers alone, so it is pretty extensive. The yard is sloped a bit, so the walls are at different levels. The previous owner was a single mom for whatever reason, and apparently she did most of the work around the house. I'm not sure I would have tackled this project myself, but she did. God bless her. Well, the pond is in need of some work. Serious work. The wall that separates the pond from the play area is about 6 or 7 levels high. It's been leaning a bit lately. The problem? No real foundation layer. Seems as though she started the wall and did a pretty good job all the way around, except where the wall meets the sand in the play area. And, the pond tends to overflow with heavy rains, so when it does overflow, the water runs down to the play area. And the play area is built on? You guessed it. Sand. We know what happens when water meets sand. In fact, unless we are talking about the Sandman, Spidey's latest villain, water always wins. So the main part of one of the walls was built on sand. After we moved in, I noticed it was leaning a bit. Bad foundation. Up top, around the pond, lies a lot of decorative slate. Used all around the pond, and inside the wall. Apparently, at some point, some pieces of the slate were used to prop up the foundation-less portion of the wall. Bad idea. Foundations built on sand? Bad idea. Heavy paver walls propped up with pieces of slate? Another bad idea. You know where this is going.

A few weeks ago, I had the bright idea that Christian (my oldest son for those who don't know...just turned 13 in April...new teenager) and I would rebuild the wall. It would be a teaching moment. Teaching my son about foundations while actually rebuilding a bad one? Brilliant! Actually having him help me with the work? Even more brilliant! Having him do the work while I lounged on the deck with my beautiful wife would have been even more brilliant. So, anyway we've been kind of planing on doing it for a few weeks now. Well, for various reasons, we kept getting pushed back. Until yesterday. You see, for some reason, Nebraska has weather "events". In the winter, we are blessed with blizzards. In the spring? Ahhh, the spring brings severe weather. Severe thunderstorms. Occasionally loaded with hail. Sometimes, tornadic activity. Robin loves it here in the spring! For me, it always brings the return of – Robin Laney, Meteorologist! And this past weekend? Torrential rain. I mean, keep you awake at night it's so stinkin' loud kind of rain. And did I mention hail? Well, this weekend we were welcomed back to the plains with a little severe weather. Not so much as the poor folks in Greensburg Ks. God bless that poor town. Tornadoes destroyed 95% of that town. What must that be like? And I sometimes I think I have problems? Anyway, this was a typical Nebraska, spring, severe weather weekend. There is a golf course just east of our housing subdivision that now has new water hazards. Not good. So back to the wall. Well, it was leaning. Before the weekend, it had a little top-heavy lean going on. Well, with the opening of the skies this weekend, the wall came down. The forecast for the remainder of the week? You guessed it. More rain. So if I want the play area to become the new home of the pond, I would just do nothing. Didn't want that. So yesterday after we got home from our downtown activities, Christian and I set out to rebuild the wall. New foundation. You see, Christian is 13. Brand new teenager. A little too late to build a foundation for him. But hopefully, Robin and I have done our job and the foundation has already been built. He's 13 ya know. Tough years ahead, but great years so far. Now I am of the belief that those early years are the foundation building years. I could be wrong. Lord knows I'm wrong more than I'm right. At least according to my new teenager. So, we set out to re-build the wall. Of course it starts raining again. Not as hard this time. But enough for me to question whether or not we should continue. We do. Now for those who don't know Christian...let's see...how can I put this delicately? I can't. He talks a lot. I mean a lot. Hey, he has a lot to say. Always has. So when I'm trying to determine how we are gong to piece this wall back together, he has lots of ideas on how it should happen. But being the bullheaded one that I am, I have my own ideas. The wall wasn't really constructed correctly in the first place. But like I said, I don't know if I would have taken on this project, so I give her credit to the utmost degree. She really did a pretty good job overall. Just a bad foundation on this one part. So it's raining. I dig out the area where we are going to rebuild the foundation. I get a little sand in there for leveling purposes. The nice thing about this project? No trips to Lowes or Home Depot. Everything I need is right there. Sand? Check. Pavers? Check. Shovels? Check. Good help? Labor? Check. Christian is on the job with me. Talking. :)

So, after what seems like a good while, we have the foundation layer ready to go. Actually, it probably only took us about half an hour. Then we start rebuilding the wall. One paver at a time. One at a time ensuring all the pavers are level. Backfilling the dirt that washed out. It goes pretty quickly. Christian is his normal, wacky self. And did I mention talkative? So, part of the deal for me here is to figure out how to now continue to develop on the foundation that God has built in Christian. This kid is really smart. I'm not saying that from a purely fatherly perspective. I really mean it. If you can get past the wacky, 13-year-old exterior, he is a brilliant kid. Reads all the time. I mean all the time. He's a pretty normal boy. In fact, he's about to buy a new door for the downstairs bathroom. Seems he put a foot through the door while horsing around with Nick. Came clean the other night. The point is he's pretty normal. And I think he has a great foundation. Time will tell.

Here's one thing I don't understand. Or maybe I do, I just don't get it. I see guys that are homeless every Sunday. All ages. Some as young as 20. 20 years old and homeless!! How? How does a 20-year-old become homeless? Where are the parents? How does anyone become homeless? Well, that can't be answered here. I mean the reasons are endless. 20 and homeless? Christian is 13. That's only a seven-year difference. How does that happen? Where's the foundation? It's a tough job. Any parent knows that. It's easy to be complacent and occasionally disregard the building that needs to take place. The constant construction. It's pretty easy to develop a relationship with your own kids. I mean, they really have no choice for at least the first 18 years or so. Now the teenage years can be different, or so I'm told. I'm just getting there. It is, however, the very definition of a "captive" audience. And after that, you just hope and pray that with God's help you've laid a foundation that will carry them.

So, for us, the foundation is being laid for a ministry here that will someday carry a few folks to places they may not have known. Carry us to places we may not have known. Or take them home, wherever home may be. And to be sure, it has nothing to do with us. We can only hope and pray and be there for the guys that have now come to expect us to be there. I met a guy named Earl yesterday. Earl is from New Orleans. Arrived in Omaha via Seattle? Who knows? He's staying at the Open Door Mission. Most of my time yesterday was spent chatting with Earl. As I made my way through the line, glad handing folks and doing my best to remember names, I came upon Earl. He asks what organization we are with? I tell him none. We just come. God's organization. He really doesn't get it at first, but he comes around as our time progresses. We chat off and on for the duration of our activities. He needs to get home. To New Orleans. Been in Omaha 3 days. Sounds kind of desperate. I try to tell him that we can do our best to try, but we just don't always have the resources to help everyone all the time. He plays the God card on me. Tells me that if we are Christians, we have to help him. Have to. I tell him that we will do our best, but it won't be on his (Earl's) time. It will be on His time. Ya know? He tells me he needs 70 or 80 dollars to get a bus to New Orleans. He has 30. Can we help him with the rest? I told him I'd call him around Tuesday of this week to see where we are. But he has to go the extra mile and go to the temp agency to try and get work to see if he can help out with the remainder. I tell him I'll pray for him. He has to pray also. Says he has been. I'm sure he has. Nothing wrong with Omaha, but if it's not home, you might be praying to get out. Especially with the crazy weather we've been having lately.

Pray for Earl this week. I think he just wants to go home. I hope and pray that we can help him. Our donations have been a bit down lately. The cool thing is we get what we need when we need it. That has been the case for us from the beginning. It's always the case. Sometimes I think I need to do more to "control" our situation. But I can't. I have no control. Man do I struggle with that one. :) Hopefully we can help Earl get home. Or better yet, hopefully Earl can help Earl get home. That would be better.

The foundation for us is there. I hope. After 6 months, we've built our foundation on a concrete slab at 14th and Douglas. Right there on a public sidewalk. Interesting foundation. Hopefully our tax dollars keep it in good shape. I'll let you know how the wall holds up. The foundations. Both foundations. All three foundations actually. It'll be interesting to see how long they last. A great friend wrote to me recently in a time of real chaos for Robin and myself. Lots of "stuff" was happening. We have found ourselves a little weary lately. Emotionally, physically, etc. But he told us this. Anyone can start a ministry such as this. The difficult thing is to keep it going and keep it on track. One definition of foundation at Websters.com is the act of founding, setting up, establishing, etc. We'll do our best to keep it going. One brick at a time. It's our plan. It has to be His plan. Otherwise, why in the world would a bunch of people from our neck of the woods be doing this every week? Got to be in His plan. We've seen far too good things come from this. Far too many. If you are reading this, could you pray for our foundation? Thanks...

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

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