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"... :)