Standing in it...

Again, what a Sunday!! I am constantly and continually amazed by the blessings we experience each and every week on our church corner. So many happenings this week, so many things to talk about. Last week was a pretty stressful week for reasons I won't go into, but Sunday was a great start to a new week. That’s the nice thing about life...if you have a couple of bad days? No worries. There's more coming. Best buckle up, because it's coming at ya full speed sometimes and you better be ready. So, Sunday? What a great day. Have you heard the song where the pre-chorus goes something like this...”it's Friday but Sunday is coming...Sunday Hallelujah...it's not too far, it's not too far away”? I love that song because it always reminds me that no matter what day it is, Sunday is coming. And on Sunday, here in Omaha, for the Laneys, Sundays are coming. And not just for the Laneys, but for all those that hang out with us at this thing that is slowly morphing into something that is becoming more and more unrecognizable to me every week. It is nothing short of amazing to me how God has grown this simple ministry into what it has become. Every week when we get home from our downtown dealings, I am usually pretty exhausted. For some reason, tonight, as I sit in the Valentine, Nebraska Comfort Inn at 11:30 p.m., I am very reflective, but not so tired. This week, we will be on vacation. Heading to the Black Hills of South Dakota, Mount Rushmore, and all the tourist trappings that go along with a trip like that. But as we made the 300 mile trip to Valentine, just to have a decent stopping off point and to allow us a fresh start tomorrow with less driving, Robin and I were both very fresh and aware that God has placed something that we believe to be very special right in our laps. It is so odd to believe that he could choose a couple of ordinary people such as us to do His work. So strange. Why us? Who knows. I reckon He figured if we were going to be in Big Red country, we might as well be doing some good solid work for the Kingdom? And has it ever been a blast?! So this morning, we gear up for our weekly activities, that just happen to take place in the open air of downtown Omaha, with the extra burden of knowing that we needed to be packed for a weeklong vacation also. Had everything ready to go. All the bags were packed and ready...we just had to make our normal pre-ordained appointment at 14th and Douglas. A little picnic in the park, so to speak. So the adventure begins...what in the world are we standing in?

We had a pretty light meal menu planned this week and that was good considering we were heading home immediately after our activities were completed, unloading, putting the seats back in the van, reloading all the packed bags and heading out. Worked like a charm. Made a deal with Robin earlier Sunday morning. You see, she knows me pretty well. She should. Been married almost 16 years now. She's seen me through some pretty tough times. Some pretty good times also, and lots of others mixed in there. So, the deal was this - she wanted to visit a friend or ours who just happens to be in room 5514 at Creighton University Hospital. That’s where most of our homeless friends end up if they need medical attention. I had a special way of remembering the room number and let’s just say it has something to do with Nebraska football. You can ask her about it sometime. She thinks I'm crazy, and well, I probably am. Anyway, she wants to go and visit our friend Frank at the hospital, after our downtown "services" and before heading out on our vacation. Well, I'm pretty fond of Frank, so it really wasn't much of a concession for me. I may have made it seem that way, but it wasn't. Keep 'em guessin', right? :) So the deal is struck. Have to be off the corner by 1:30. Need to be on the road to Valentine by 3:00. Have to make a quick stop off at the Sienna Francis House also in between. Lots to do. Not so much time...

We get to our corner and do our thing. Lots of our friends are waiting to help unload the van as we commence to serving. It’s getting to the point now that people just know where to put everything and it's only a matter of minutes before we're ready to pray and get things rolling. Literally seconds before our prayer of thanks to God for all His blessins', a minor skirmish breaks out. Goes with the territory. A couple of guys are going at it verbally and a dust up looks imminent. So what do I do? Pray? Not yet. Have to defuse the dust up. At a near sprint, I head over to attempt to get it under control before something happens that somebody might regret. Only takes a couple of minutes and in the process, I meet Tim. Tim and I will chat again, I'm sure. So we do the deed, give Him thanks, and the eatin' commences. And immediately, I'm confronted by my friend Menelik. Not in a confrontational way by any means. He'd been drinking to be sure. But he was struggling. Life has not been so good to Menelik. I've mentioned him before. As the story goes, he was one of the original lost boys. From Africa. Now? Homeless in Omaha. How? How does that happen. I am continually amazed at the way in which some of these folks make their way to a park in downtown Omaha. Where in the world do they all come from and how in the world do they end up here? What in the world are we standing in? As our conversation progresses, I sense that Menelik is really, and I mean really struggling. As things get rolling on Sundays, I tend to get around. There's a fellow who comes down most Sundays who goes by the name of Smiley. We actually have 2 guys that go by that name. Anyway, this fellow seems to have a way with numbers. One Sunday, he told me this - "If anyone asks? 98". I look at him waiting for the punch line. No punch line. Just looks at me and says 98. 98 what? Degrees? What? People man!! 98 people! (Stay with me...I know I'm off track, but there's a point!) So yesterday, I ask him, as I always do now. He says he'll get back to me. He does. He says he's getting conflicting information? From who Smiley? It’s just me and you. Cracks me up. Anyway, says he's getting conflicting numbers, but it's between 175 and 195. I have no idea how many it actually is. But I know it's a lot. And there are lots of people who are tugging at us for various reasons. Needs mostly. Physical, prayer, etc. Sometimes? Simple conversation. Nice to know someone cares I guess. Some of these guys have no one. No one. Back to Menelik. Menelik was in a bad state. Never seen him that way before. Never. So as I bound from Tom (who is recently out of the hospital from a beating he took in the park at the hands of some hoodlums) to Joe (who starts a new job on Monday!!!) to whomever else needs a minute, Erin shows up tugging at my shirt. Mommy needs you Daddy. I immediately hustle over to where she is and she tells me Menelik needs my help. Well, he definitely needs more than my help, but I'm there for him for sure. Now, he has a very strong Ethiopian accent, so he's difficult to understand at times. But what I heard was not. He said he wanted to kill himself. Tired. Tired of it all. Said he was in the military. Got dropped off in this country and ended up in Washington D.C. Now he's stuck in Omaha working for barely enough to make it and he's tired. Walking everywhere he goes. He's a proud man. But he's tired. Of it all. So what am I supposed to say? Me? I have no training for this! But Robin and I pray each week before we venture out that God will give us the words. Seems as though He always does. Always. So I try my best to help Menelik. We pray. Right in the street. Me and him. And Him. Amid all the chaos, it's just the 3 of us. Amid Smiley's count and the traffic, it's just the 3 of us. What in the world am I standing in?

I get Menelik a new shirt, a sandwich and a bus ticket back to South Omaha. A new friend of ours, Jodi who we met through a former boss of mine, Tony...who happened to see me on the street one day, downtown, for the first time in over 10 years, and was just driving by and saw me walking...and who stopped and got out of his car and talked to me on his way home from the night shift...and who I mentioned to in a subsequent phone conversation that we did this thing on Sundays... and who happened to mention it to his pastor...and his pastor mentioned to Jodi that it would be a good opportunity for some outreach...and Jodi showed up on Sunday to get a feel for what it is we do...and I believe Jodi also prayed with Menelik. It just never ceases to amaze me at the opportunities that might be missed if we are not looking for them. If Tony hadn’t stopped that morning a few months back? Probably never would have met Jodi. And now? Jodi is coming back to meet with Menelik again.

So I could go on and on about other "stuff" that happened Sunday. But I have to mention our visit to see Frank in the hospital. Keep in mind that Frank is also one of the first fellows that we met in the Office on that first fateful Sunday. A charter member if you will. You have to meet Frank to understand how we feel about him, but our kids just love him. Well, he fell down by the river few days back, got a nasty infection and ended up with cellulitis. Now I'm no doctor, but from what I understand, it can be very serious. Robin and the kids just "happened" to be downtown, saw Frank limping very badly and offered to take him to the hospital. He cried in the van because he said no one would help him. No one would help him. You know, whatsoever you do for the least of those? Anyway, he had surgery on Saturday, and Robin has been very concerned about Frank. So back to the deal. After we wrapped everything up, we headed to the hospital to visit Frank. I know this is long, but bear with me. As we get to Franks room, he has couple of our homeless homeys in the room with him and we visit for a couple of minutes. Robin wants to make sure that Frank knows the reason she was in the downtown area on the day he needed her. She was looking for another fellow. Couldn't find him. But "happened" to run across Frank. Just by "coincidence". Well as she's telling the story to Frank, we realize we are indeed standing in something. Right there in Frank's Hospital room. Literally. And just as calmly as he could say it, Frank tells us it's his pee. Yep. They gave him the old "lean over the side of the bed and pee in it” bottle and he spilled it. Right there on the floor!!! We look down and sure enough...so I grab an orderly and tell him, he tells the nurse, and the situation is resolved. But not before we realize that we are standing in it. Standing in a world which 10 or so months ago we were not familiar. God has been so unbelievable in sending the messages. So incredible in opening our eyes to a world that we knew nothing about. So amazing in steering us in a direction that we are incomprehensibly untrained for. Yet He continues to send us. Frank cried again as Robin told him that if it weren't for the bandana that she was trying to get to our friend Doug, she never would have seen him. I'm sure he cried a bit as Nick told him that God set that meeting up. In Nick's mind it was pretty simple. God sent them to help Frank.

So what are we standing in? Well, besides Franks pee, we are standing in God's House. Each and every Sunday we strive to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24 tells us..."Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize". We want the prize. I think I know what we are standing in. We are standing in a ministry that God has knowingly placed on us and we simply want to get the prize. Want to cross the finish line, as my father-in-law told me once, battered, bloodied and bruised. But smiling and with the prize at hand...

So what are you standing in?

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

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