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"... :)