Yesterday was a hot one. 97 degrees and hot. Both Robin and I weren't feeling the greatest either, for whatever reason. I spent the 4th driving to Alabama. My father's wife passed away last Sunday. The funeral was Thursday, so four of my brothers and sisters and myself piled into a van and headed down to be with Dad. It's an 1100 mile trip there, so we did the whole 2200 miles in three days thing and it tends to wear on you a bit. But my Dad is the one who is worn. His wife was in the hospital for 6 weeks and it was an extremely difficult situation for him, not to mention the stress on her family. I watched as they played a video tribute at the funeral and wondered how someone goes through this with their mother...their wife. I wondered what this would be like for my own mother? My own wife? God forbid something like this should happen. It will. Someday. Dad now has to face the coming weeks and months without his wife. I can't imagine. My wife is my rock. I can't imagine going on without her. Ol' Pretty Eyes. Or Sweetness as I've called her for the better part of 17 years. :)
So yesterday was a somewhat typical Nebraska July day. 97 degrees. Hot. Humid. But we have a good shaded aread under the trees where we meet, so the heat really isn't such a big deal. It's days like that though, when I worry about what might happen on our downtown corner. You worry about tempers flaring or issues arising. The heat and humidity have a way of doing that. Oh, and the alcohol. Can't forget about that. And whatever other issues that are being dealt with by our friends. And I have to say there are issues. Not unlike the issues we all face. Theirs are maybe just highlighted a little more because of the circumstances. A couple of the shelters here have shut down their day services, so our friends are out in the heat and whatnot all day now. No respite from the elements for lots of them. Some hang out in the library, but some have been asked not to come back to the public library for various reasons, so they spend their days in the park. The city is trying to come up with funding, I guess, but they seem to be more concerned with spending a million dollars on new manhole covers. Gotta have those new manhole covers! Good grief. What does that mean when we are willing to spend a million dollars on something like that (which I should say, the last time I checked, there were no open holes in the streets anywhere in Omaha) but we can't take care of our own? Aren't we taught that we are to care for the poor? Aren't we taught that we are to love the less fortunate as we love ourselves? So manhole covers? Yikes. I feel a tangent coming. But not now.
So as we were doing our thing yesterday, I was greeting our friends as they waited in line to grab a bite to eat. And these folks are pretty darn patient as they wait. In the heat. Did I mention 97 degrees? My niece came down for the first time a couple weeks ago to help us out and one of her comments stuck with me. She couldn't believe how respectful these guys were. How thankful. That's the deal. They are so appreciative that God sends us and it shows. Very respectful and just very thankful. So as I make my way through the line, and it's getting longer every single week and I'm seeing faces I've never seen before, I notice a police car just on the corner kind of monitoring the situation. After a few minutes, I just kind of did a pre-emptive strike to make sure everything was ok. Chatted with him for a couple of minutes. He said they had an increased presence in the park because of the increased numbers of folks gathering in the park. Things can get out of hand quickly I suppose.
A few minutes later, as I'm helping out at the hydration station, or the lemonade coolers, I hear the words. "Man down"! "Man down"! I immediately head to the direction of the commotion. Earlier I saw a fellow sleeping in the dirt. Let me say that again...in the dirt, right smack in the middle of our activities. Asleep. Catching some zzzzs. So as I make my way over to where the noise is coming from, I see Robin is the one making all the noise. :) Ol' Pretty Eyes. :) She is motioning towards the police officer and seeking his assistance. At this point, we realize that our friend Gary, who had previously been sleeping in the dirt, has had a little too much to drink and is pretty much just sleeping it off. Right there in the dirt. How does one get to the point that you just decide to fall asleep in the dirt?? So Robin, thinking he has a problem, calls the officer over and guess what? He comes over and gives ol' Gary a little kick on the feet. Well, Gary was having none of that. He struggled to get up and said that a police officer can't just come over and kick a guy. Illegal he said. Gonna file a lawsuit. Well, we got Gary calmed down with a plate of food, a bottle of water and some nice cool lemonade. No lawsuits as far as I know, and no "Man Down!".
Another incident nearly happened yesterday. As people gather on that corner, you know that folks end up meeting one another and maybe they have a little history. Ya know what I mean? Maybe guys get together that don't get along so well. Two guys with a little history almost got heated up yesterday. Joe and Kevin. Seems that they got into a bit of a deal last fall. Happened almost exactly when we started showing up on that corner last year. I have no idea of the real details. I have been able to make a few assumptions, based on the two individuals and what I've come to know of them. I really don't know them very well at all, obviously, but I think well enough to make an educated guess as to what maybe happened. Joe apparently felt threatened by a few guys one day last year, a scuffle broke out and Kevin ended up in the hospital with a stab wound in his back. Now this happened far away from our corner, and not on a Sunday. But I remember a few guys telling us one Sunday that Kevin was in the hospital and why. We visited Kevin in the hospital to see if he needed anything and brought clothing and stuff. Now Joe was arrested and released almost immediately. Didn't know what that meant at the time, but the charges were dropped rather quickly. Anyway, yesterday, Kevin shows up and before you know it, a situation has to be diffused. We get through it rather easily, but I guess the point is things can happen rather quickly. It's a mission field. We need prayer for safety, for a calming presence, for grace and just prayer in general. If you are into that sort of thing, pray for us if you will. Pray for Kevin and Joe. Pray for Gary. Pray for all of us. Lord knows we need it.
Couple of other things from yesterday. Saw a couple of friends I haven't seen in a while. Bill was there. If you've followed our activities at all, you'll recall Bill was my buddy from the Office. I get the impression that he's trying, but he doesn't sense a lot of hope. Just my impression. Bill is recovering from a broken leg. Having a hard time getting around. And Menelik was there also. Menelik just got back from Washington D.C. I have no idea how some of these guys get around like they do, but they do. Anyway, Menelik is one of the original Lost Boys. His story is amazing. I watched Blood Diamond recently and couldn't help but think of Menelik when I watched that movie. His story is amazing and he is amazingly homeless in Omaha Nebraska? What is that about?
Sorry for all the ramblings, but this was a rambling sort of week for me. If you could, pray for my Dad also. He'll need it. But hey, we all do. And pray that the mayor of our fine city will forget about the stupid manhole covers and get his priorities straightened out. And please pray for all the men down. There are guys that really are down, figuratively and literally, and they really need our help...
Peace and have a great and blessed week.
..."it matters to that one"... :)
So yesterday was a somewhat typical Nebraska July day. 97 degrees. Hot. Humid. But we have a good shaded aread under the trees where we meet, so the heat really isn't such a big deal. It's days like that though, when I worry about what might happen on our downtown corner. You worry about tempers flaring or issues arising. The heat and humidity have a way of doing that. Oh, and the alcohol. Can't forget about that. And whatever other issues that are being dealt with by our friends. And I have to say there are issues. Not unlike the issues we all face. Theirs are maybe just highlighted a little more because of the circumstances. A couple of the shelters here have shut down their day services, so our friends are out in the heat and whatnot all day now. No respite from the elements for lots of them. Some hang out in the library, but some have been asked not to come back to the public library for various reasons, so they spend their days in the park. The city is trying to come up with funding, I guess, but they seem to be more concerned with spending a million dollars on new manhole covers. Gotta have those new manhole covers! Good grief. What does that mean when we are willing to spend a million dollars on something like that (which I should say, the last time I checked, there were no open holes in the streets anywhere in Omaha) but we can't take care of our own? Aren't we taught that we are to care for the poor? Aren't we taught that we are to love the less fortunate as we love ourselves? So manhole covers? Yikes. I feel a tangent coming. But not now.
So as we were doing our thing yesterday, I was greeting our friends as they waited in line to grab a bite to eat. And these folks are pretty darn patient as they wait. In the heat. Did I mention 97 degrees? My niece came down for the first time a couple weeks ago to help us out and one of her comments stuck with me. She couldn't believe how respectful these guys were. How thankful. That's the deal. They are so appreciative that God sends us and it shows. Very respectful and just very thankful. So as I make my way through the line, and it's getting longer every single week and I'm seeing faces I've never seen before, I notice a police car just on the corner kind of monitoring the situation. After a few minutes, I just kind of did a pre-emptive strike to make sure everything was ok. Chatted with him for a couple of minutes. He said they had an increased presence in the park because of the increased numbers of folks gathering in the park. Things can get out of hand quickly I suppose.
A few minutes later, as I'm helping out at the hydration station, or the lemonade coolers, I hear the words. "Man down"! "Man down"! I immediately head to the direction of the commotion. Earlier I saw a fellow sleeping in the dirt. Let me say that again...in the dirt, right smack in the middle of our activities. Asleep. Catching some zzzzs. So as I make my way over to where the noise is coming from, I see Robin is the one making all the noise. :) Ol' Pretty Eyes. :) She is motioning towards the police officer and seeking his assistance. At this point, we realize that our friend Gary, who had previously been sleeping in the dirt, has had a little too much to drink and is pretty much just sleeping it off. Right there in the dirt. How does one get to the point that you just decide to fall asleep in the dirt?? So Robin, thinking he has a problem, calls the officer over and guess what? He comes over and gives ol' Gary a little kick on the feet. Well, Gary was having none of that. He struggled to get up and said that a police officer can't just come over and kick a guy. Illegal he said. Gonna file a lawsuit. Well, we got Gary calmed down with a plate of food, a bottle of water and some nice cool lemonade. No lawsuits as far as I know, and no "Man Down!".
Another incident nearly happened yesterday. As people gather on that corner, you know that folks end up meeting one another and maybe they have a little history. Ya know what I mean? Maybe guys get together that don't get along so well. Two guys with a little history almost got heated up yesterday. Joe and Kevin. Seems that they got into a bit of a deal last fall. Happened almost exactly when we started showing up on that corner last year. I have no idea of the real details. I have been able to make a few assumptions, based on the two individuals and what I've come to know of them. I really don't know them very well at all, obviously, but I think well enough to make an educated guess as to what maybe happened. Joe apparently felt threatened by a few guys one day last year, a scuffle broke out and Kevin ended up in the hospital with a stab wound in his back. Now this happened far away from our corner, and not on a Sunday. But I remember a few guys telling us one Sunday that Kevin was in the hospital and why. We visited Kevin in the hospital to see if he needed anything and brought clothing and stuff. Now Joe was arrested and released almost immediately. Didn't know what that meant at the time, but the charges were dropped rather quickly. Anyway, yesterday, Kevin shows up and before you know it, a situation has to be diffused. We get through it rather easily, but I guess the point is things can happen rather quickly. It's a mission field. We need prayer for safety, for a calming presence, for grace and just prayer in general. If you are into that sort of thing, pray for us if you will. Pray for Kevin and Joe. Pray for Gary. Pray for all of us. Lord knows we need it.
Couple of other things from yesterday. Saw a couple of friends I haven't seen in a while. Bill was there. If you've followed our activities at all, you'll recall Bill was my buddy from the Office. I get the impression that he's trying, but he doesn't sense a lot of hope. Just my impression. Bill is recovering from a broken leg. Having a hard time getting around. And Menelik was there also. Menelik just got back from Washington D.C. I have no idea how some of these guys get around like they do, but they do. Anyway, Menelik is one of the original Lost Boys. His story is amazing. I watched Blood Diamond recently and couldn't help but think of Menelik when I watched that movie. His story is amazing and he is amazingly homeless in Omaha Nebraska? What is that about?
Sorry for all the ramblings, but this was a rambling sort of week for me. If you could, pray for my Dad also. He'll need it. But hey, we all do. And pray that the mayor of our fine city will forget about the stupid manhole covers and get his priorities straightened out. And please pray for all the men down. There are guys that really are down, figuratively and literally, and they really need our help...
Peace and have a great and blessed week.
..."it matters to that one"... :)
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