Saw something a little different today...

I’m going to give this a shot, because I don’t know how some of this works. But I saw something today that I’ve not seen before. First a little setup. We are shifting from soup season to real meals once again. Robin has a pretty good system for making soup and the number of folks we see in the winter months is obviously less than what we see in the nicer weather. So now that winter has given way to spring, we are seeing a pretty good surge in number of people we are serving. I think today we figured around 225 meals served. That is a pretty good surge for us and it’s maybe a little harder to prepare for that. The nice thing is that God is in charge so He always sends us with enough. But the preparation is a little more difficult from a logistical standpoint. Now this morning I saw something at my house that once again made me feel pretty good about things, at least from a father’s standpoint. Christian and I spent a couple hours in the garage sorting clothing, hygiene items, and bagging shoes and things. I came in the kitchen at one point and Erin was helping Robin make the meal. And Nick was chipping in also. It’s so cool to see all the members of my family pitching in to help and there are really very few complaints. Just an observation, but they all do it and seem to like helping. As for Christian? Well anytime I can spend a couple hours with my 14 year old and he wants to be there? That’s all good! So then I knocked a glass bottle and a light bulb out of the overhead kitchen cabinet minutes before we left to go downtown. You know what happens when glass hits tile from that high? Basically fills the floor with nice, shiny sparkling glass shards...everywhere. Now it would have been nice if each little piece of glass would have been a direct it on one of the million or so ants that seem to be invading our house this time of year. But no go. And then I bit my tongue while yelling at Nick and Christian, yep, those same two that were so helpful a bit earlier. Yep, bit my tongue and it bled all the way downtown. Took a nice chunk off the end. Serves me right I suppose. Seriously, that’s all the small stuff. Can’t sweat that.

So back to what I saw today. We got to our corner, set up the meal and got things underway. I spent a few minutes talking to my good friend Bill. Love talking to that guy. If we are allowed to have favorites among our friends, Bill would definitely be one of mine. So I chatted with Bill for a few minutes and then made my way through the line greeting our friends and enjoying a few minutes catching up with everyone. As I got through the line, I started up a conversation with my friend Keith. Keith is an African American fellow, probably about 6’4 and just a really nice guy. He’s gotten himself an apartment recently and we helped him get a television. He needs other stuff, so we are trying to help him out there also. But we were really just having a conversation about the whole thing that happens on Sundays in the park. Here we are in the middle of a couple hundred people and mostly people seemed to be in pretty good spirits. One of the things that makes it difficult for us is when our friends show up on Sundays in various states of intoxication. That goes with the territory, but it just makes it a little tough. This morning? Not so much of that and that’s a good thing. So as Keith and I are talking, I hear a bit of a ruckus kicking up. I don’t really see anything happening, but there is shouting and something definitely happening. Then I see a fellow walking right smack in the middle of everything. The look on his face is nothing short of rage and the language he’s spewing is pretty raw. Real raw. As he gets closer, I can tell he’s not happy with us. F*&$ing Christians! His words. Not mine. Said it several times as he walked through. Basically telling us how bad we were and that we were up to no good. Said it loads of times. Usually when something like that happens, my first inclination is to try to calm the situation. Especially in light of all the ladies and young kids that come down to help. But this happened fairly removed from all of them, so I just looked at Keith and we looked back at the guy. I simply told him…”God bless ya man!” And that riled him up a little more. And then he said the thing that stuck with me and the thing that made his behavior make a little more sense. He said, well, what he’d said several times. Dropped the f bomb on the Christians and then said Satan ruled this world. And you know what? He might have a point. But as I look back and try to picture his face when he actually turned back around and made that comment? I have to believe it was the adversarial one himself. However that works. The cool thing about the whole thing? I was talking to Keith about the great fellowship that happens on that corner on Sundays and he was telling me how much he looked forward to coming down on Sundays. And he had a funny look on his face when I told him how much we looked forward to Sundays. And then this guy walks through the park tearing into us all. And he’d take a few steps, turn around and let us have it again. And then something else happened. As I said, our serving line was pretty darn long today. And when this all happened, I was near the back of the line. That’s when I heard several people in the line start blessing the guy. God bless ya. God bless ya. God bless ya. Must have heard it 5 or 10 times. And even if it was in jest? Well it was spoken. And Keith and I just chuckled. And Satan just kept on walking. By himself. And we just kept on doing our community thing. In the Lord’s name. Because as Keith said, wherever two or more are gathered. And he laughed again and said there’s a whole lot more than two! And there were. :)

Now the whole thing was a little unsettling to me. Because I really dislike confrontation. So when I see this guy yelling at people in the park and screaming obscenities, I’m thinking someone just might take offense at his behavior and take care of a little business. Never happened. There was far too much good happening for a little adversarial activity to ruin it. I really believe I saw a fellow who was filled with hate and rage and Satan was livin’ high on the hog in this guy. Was it the face of the evil one himself? Who knows, but this guy was filled with troubles. And he did not like Christians. That’s ok. We won’t hold it against him. Can’t. We’ll pray for him and maybe some crazy Christian will show him a little light someday. All I know is we had a fantastic day down there today in spite of this one fellow. Everything went so smooth. Happens like that when God is running the show I suppose. Not to belittle the issues that we come across down on that corner. But man when God goes to work there, it never ceases to amaze me. In fact, I can’t wait for next Sunday. And the all the next Sundays. Spring is here and amazing things are in store. We got in the van to leave today and both Robin and I wondered for a minute what we were going to do. Last year, we didn’t experience this kind of a surge until mid summer or so. It’s still April! But we don’t have to worry. The Man is in charge and we are simply along for the ride.

Finally, I got a call this week from a fellow that was recently able to get home. Back to Phoenix. We helped him secure a bus ticket and he called to let me know he made it back. That is always so cool to me. I mean, if you figure it out, the bus ticket cost pennies on the dollar to a guy who might have a chance now that he’s out of a homeless shelter and back home where he might be able to make it. Brian is back home and hopefully he’ll remember who got him there. Wasn’t us.

I read this quote somewhere this week so I’ll steal it. I like it. "Community is between individuals, with no blurring of the boundaries of I and thou."

I wanted to mention Starfish Soaps this week but I’ve rambled on enough. Next week. For sure. Unless He has other plans.

John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." Luke 3:11

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

…it matters to that one… :)

A little off kilter…

This morning was nothing short of craziness. And that was just the morning. The getting ready part of our day. Seemed like everything was just a little off kilter. We had 4 young middle school kids, along with our kids, completing time for a school service project, so just adding that much juvenile testosterone to the mix was fairly chaotic. It was a good chaos, but chaos nonetheless. And we even had the advantage of a Home School group doing the cooking for us. We never know how that is going to work out, especially when a group is venturing in for the first time. It’s so difficult in our earthly ways to sometimes let go of the controls and let God handle the details. Even when we know he’ll always get them right. Why is that? Because we’re human? It’s still a pretty lame excuse. So we had that on our mind. And once again, I maybe wasn’t quite on my game. Whatever my game looks like. But I just wasn’t on top of things. My Dad went back in the hospital last week. He’s now in long term care. He’s 75. The admitting ER doctor told him he was dying. Why would she tell him that? That he had some difficult decisions to make? He thinks he’s going to be ok. His cardiologist thinks he’ll get out of it also. His heart is working at around 12-15 %. That doesn’t sound ok to me. So that was on my mind among other things. But the show must go on…

So we get part way downtown and we realize that we forgot the Paninis. Those great sandwiches we get on Saturday nights from Panera Bread. We usually get enough of them to hand out to guys who show up late and for the campers. Those guys maybe can’t handle the stress and chaos of the shelter. The fellows who spend their nights under bridges, in tents, etc. So they have something to eat later. So Robin had to go back and get them. So she was going to be behind the eight ball from Jump Street. She usually gets the serving tables set up, so guess who that fell to? Yep, yours truly. So we get there and when we pull up, I’m thinking to myself…”self, are we going to have enough?” The throng of people stretched down the sidewalk for a long ways. And we depended totally on a group that had never previously cooked for our friends. We told them to prepare for 150 or so, but there had to be a couple hundred people. It so hard to know how many to prepare for, especially this time of year. We are in a bit of a spring transition and it’s just hard to know. So everything that seemingly could work against us was doing just that. But of course, we had God on our side. It never ceases to amaze me how He is so faithful and He always provides. We have never once run short on food for our friends. I always tell a guy if he gets there at noon, he’ll get a good meal. You show up at 2:00? All bets are off. And today? We were wiped out. From the moment I got out of the van, we were on the run. Seemed like it anyway. And there are always guys that “need to talk to one of us”. Normally the usual suspects. It’s funny…seems like some of the guys think they have an in with us. A guy will need a backpack. A pair of sneakers. Something. And another funny this is when I see a guy that has shed his winter gear. It’s almost as if I have to relearn all the faces and names again. A fellow showed up today that I haven’t seen in probably a year. Mark has been sober now for a year. And looking great. And He was with Dan. Who this week had 104 days of sobriety. Those are the good success stories. And I love it when those guys come and seek me out to tell me how great they are doing. Because it can get overwhelming at times…seeing the same guys show up in the same condition week after week. But to see a guy come back and tell us of his success, that’s goodness. God’s goodness.

I had a chance to pray with a guy beside the van today. Semi private, except the traffic literally buzzing past us. He came to me and asked for prayer. Said he wondered if I would keep him in my prayers for some difficult times he’s facing. Said he had been working, but something happened to his eye, and he was out of work. Was having a difficult time getting work and keeping his place. I said let’s just pray now. He looked around and seemed to feel uncomfortable with the idea of praying right there on the corner in front of a bunch of his friends. Now this guy has to be a good 6’ 6” at least. C’mon man! Be secure in your skin brother! Seriously, I understood exactly where he was coming from. I suggested we go on the other side of the van. We did. And we shared a moment of prayer. For being in that valley. For being in a desert. That I know. I’ve been there myself. And every time I come out? God has something pretty cool waiting for me. And for Joe? I’m thinking if he stays the course, God will have something pretty cool waiting for him. The funny thing was he had been to church this morning. At the Empty Tomb in South Omaha. And he said that the things we prayed about were the exact same things he sang about in worship at church this morning. Amazing how that happens.

So a million and one things happened today. I felt good simply showing up today. I hate when I feel like I’m sub par in our dealings downtown. And I don’t think I came across that way, but I maybe felt it. Because that means that I’m letting stupid humanity get in the way of glorifying God and doing it all for His honor. And that just ain’t good! The nice thing about what God lets us do each week? He lets us show up. And when He lets us show up, good things happen. Because as soon as we arrive on that corner, He is in charge. I know He’s in charge always, at least when I let Him have it all. But for those few hours that we spend with our friends? It’s very apparent that He leads. He is fully in charge. The community that springs up on that corner every week is really an amazing testimony to His greatness. I have to tell you, I’ve just never seen anything like it. And the reason for that is most definitely because He lets it happen. And I tell you, there are many times I ask myself what we are doing. And He answers every single time. We are simply doing what He created us to do.

So thanks so much to the Home School Entrepreneurs group that showed up in an amazing way today. Thanks so much to my wonderful wife, who in spite of her morning panic, puts on a pretty good game face. Thanks to my nephew and his buddies who came and helped greatly this morning. Thanks to all the great volunteers who show up every week and give of their time and talents to help make this crazy thing work. Thanks to all of them. But most importantly, of course, all thanks to God for letting us do this thing each and every week. What an amazing deal we’ve gotten ourselves into. All thanks be to God!

And don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. Hebrews 13:16, NLT

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

…it matters to that one… :)

Homeless…not hopeless.

So today was nice. Now that may sound ridiculous, given the nature of the people we meet with on Sundays and their sometimes dire circumstances. But it was nice in several ways. First of all, my nephew, Christian and I had a pretty good time in the garage this morning loading, sorting and just doing some of the things we do every week. My nephew is Christian’s age and he is in the process of acquiring service hours. He’s been downtown with us to help and he’s been to our house to help with the Sunday preparation work also. Great kid. He came over recently to interview Robin and I for a school speech. He was writing a speech about people changing other people’s lives. That is so weird for me to hear. That his perception is such. It's funny that he thinks we actually do anything. Because we do nothing really. Except physical stuff. If any change is happening? It's all on God. Obvioulsy. So, he’s only been around this thing a few times, yet that is his perception from the outside looking in. And he’s bringing a few of his buddies next week to get a few hours for their service projects. Hey, they are welcome anytime. We can always use the help and there is always room for these guys to get a little dirty and see things that might get them out of their Nintendo comfort zones.

Another thing, I must have signed 10 community service cards today. These kids keep coming back. Now, obviously they have to get their hours in somewhere. But they could surely choose somewhere else. However they keep coming back. And they have to be impacted in some way. I even had one girl call me back today after we’d left the downtown area. She wanted to donate a bike to one of the homeless guys. And these kids seem to get it. So they get in a little trouble. They have to do some community service time. They show up on our corner for their service. And I’m pretty sure it has to have some kind of impact. Here’s the deal. You cannot do this thing without being impacted. And if they keep coming back? Maybe they get it. Or maybe they just keep getting in trouble. Whatever. They keep coming back.

Man, I looked into a guy’s eyes today and saw a broken, homeless fellow. Bobby McGhee. Now I don’t usually use a guy’s last name but c’mon? Bobby McGhee? Are you kidding me? And I apologize if you are now humming the tune. It's been in my head all afternoon. It is every time I see him. So, we met Bobby what seems now like a long time ago. I’d say he’s probably in his late 50s or early 60s. He looks older. The lifestyle definitely takes its toll on some of our friends. If I can be bluntly honest, he’s in pretty rough shape. Chronic alcoholic. Just a pretty broken fellow. And today he showed up late and missed out on lunch. I try to tell the guys to get there at noon. We always have enough if a guy gets there at noon. But if a guy shows up at 2:00? Odds aren’t in their favor. So he was a bit intoxicated, which is always difficult for us. Lots of these fellows are becoming like old friends. You hate to see an old friend throw their life away. But these guys were at it long before we came along. That’s for sure. It’s really odd though. I see some of the same guys over and over and they keep telling me over and over that they are going to change. Turn it around. I really think some believe it. I’ve seen some do it. Dan showed up today. 97 days sober. Doing time at the Salvation Army work therapy program. He is really working at it. I have a feeling he might make it. I pray that he does. And Bobby? Don’t know how he’ll ever pull himself out of it. Gabe came over while we were sitting on the wall trying to figure out how we were going to get Bobby something to eat. Gabe says for Bobby not to worry. He has friends. Bobby snapped at him. Said for Gabe not to talk to him about friends. You see, Gabe owed Bobby $2. Yep. $2. And I’m sure that is fairly commonplace for the guys to owe each other. But $2? And Bobby says that at that moment he has one friend. Me. Now I don’t know Bobby that well. But he considers us his friends. And that amazes me. That God would send a bunch of us suburbanites into the downtown area and they would see us in that way. Now I’m not naïve enough to think that some of these guys wouldn’t “borrow” a few bucks from us if the opportunity arose. But that comes with the territory. It just struck me as Bobby sat on the wall, told me he just wanted to die and began crying, that the hopelessness must be overwhelming at times. Menelik said it best though. In response to something someone said to him, he said he was homeless, not hopeless. Now Menelik is another story, but I have to believe that there is hope for Bobby. Has to be. Somewhere deep within him, there has to be a glimmer of hope. One thing I’ve learned during the time I’ve spent on that corner? You have to have compassion for all of the issues that you come across. So you have a guy who is a Level 3 Sex Offender? Does he deserve any less love than a guy who is just chronically drunk? Or does he deserve any less compassion than a guy who is simply down on his luck at the present time? I don’t really know the answer, I just know that they all deserve our love and care. It’s that simple. It’s not always that easy, but it is definitely that black and white for me. And sometimes a little Red. As in Red letters. Because within the Red letters, we are clearly instructed to do so. But it is a little difficult at times.

So as I ramble on, here’s how the day ended for us. We had a hard time getting off the corner. The weather was great. A little cool, but plenty of sunshine. The sense of urgency to leave is not quite as great as it is in the sub-zero times. Back to Bobby. He hadn’t eaten today. So one of the guys went across the park where the Veggies had set up shop. “The Veggies” is the name our friends have given to a group who meet on the opposite side of the park on Sundays. They serve? You guessed it. A vegetarian menu. So Terry got Bobby a plate of food from the Veggies. And then Jon and his family gave Bobby a ride back to the Sienna Frances House. Bobby could barely walk. Rough day for my homeless friend. I have no idea sometimes how to pray for some of our friends. Asking God to “fix” a guy like Bobby seems so difficult. How do you pray for a guy that seems hell bent on literally drinking himself to death? I have no idea. But we’ll continue to pray. For their well being. For their safety. For someone to come into their lives and simply offer a bit if direction. For patient endurance. The type of endurance that only God can offer. I’ve struggled with that one myself greatly, especially lately. And even in today’s wacky happenings, I was able to see Him at work. Through conversation. Through fellowship. It was great to be in the presence of the Lord today and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for us in the coming months!

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. Hebrews 10:36 NLT

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

…it matters to that one… :)

Vigorous?

So today I was just not quite myself. Whatever that means. Sometimes, maybe that’s a good thing? I just haven’t been feeling quite right lately. Not sure what is going on…just not on top of my game. I mean, nothing that major is going on. Nothing new anyway. I think a lot of it has to do with simply getting through the winter months here in Nebraska. I read something the other day that said this was the coldest winter here in the last 14 or 15 years. Go figure. But today? Spring shone on us just a little bit. The weather looked a little dreary this morning, but once we got downtown, the sun broke through and it was once again a great day. Food was plentiful, fellowship was in great supply and plenty of opportunities existed to share the love of Christ with our friends in the downtown community. St. Phillip was there. Now this guy is just out there. How the system has failed Phillip and how he manages to live in a shelter instead of some type of health care facility is beyond me. And there are lots of Phillips. Guys that simply wander the streets throughout the days and somehow wind up at a shelter at night. Tony is another. I have no idea how these guys manage. No idea. But they do manage to show up most Sundays and we are always glad to see them. And I mean glad in the sense that we at least know that they are ok. And fed. And clothed. To a degree anyway. And Phillip knows the Lord. I’m not sure of his real understanding, but he knows. He’s been to our Tuesday Bible study with us. He knows. And I have to think the Lord knows Phillip.

I was talking to a fellow named Tommy today and he said something to me that made me belly laugh. I mean a good, old fashioned belly laugh. A few fellows were sitting around waiting for the line to go down a bit and we were talking. Gabe was sitting on the ground, Tommy was sitting on a folding chair he carries around with him and I was standing just taking it all in and chatting with them. Gabe seemed a bit down maybe, but ok. Tommy asked how I was doing and I said I was just ok. Blessed for sure, but a bit down for some reason. Happens to us all I guess. But Tommy? Tommy said he was vigorous! Vigorous! That made me laugh. He’s recently returned from West Virginia. Had some legal problems to tend to there. We’ve talked about them many times before and he was really concerned about going back to face the piper, so to speak. He put it off for months and months. Finally went and for some reason, they ended up dropping all the charges. He’s back and feeling vigorous! His words made me rethink my current mindset. Just before we left for the day today, Tommy made a point to come over and say goodbye. You see, Tommy is a guy that is usually in good spirits. Big old smile. He came over and said he had to say thanks and goodbye to…the pastor. I corrected him and told him he knew better. He just looked me in the eyes and said it again. It is so funny to me to hear someone say that. Why? Because for some strange reason, God placed this awesome responsibility in our laps? Why? Because He blessed us with a ministry that weekly blows my socks off? Why does anyone ever refer to me in that way? I have no ideas. I always make sure they know otherwise. But in Tommy’s case, he just bear-hugged me tighter than I was ready for and told me thanks. And that he was going into treatment at the VA Hospital on Monday. I urged him to make his appointment. I told him of my time there. All those years ago. September of 1990. Until October 1 of the same year. 28 days I believe. The most important 28 days of my life. I told Tommy to call me. Gave him one of our cards. I’d love to go back. I haven’t been back in over 18 years. I’d love to go back and visit my friend Tommy. I pray that he keeps his appointment and makes it through…vigorously!

Kevin called me this week. Kevin is a guy we met on week one, in the office, that space in the middle of the park where our friends conduct various types of “business”. Used to anyway. Not so much activity in the office anymore. And not so much activity from Kevin these days. He called me about two weeks ago to let me know he was doing ok. We hadn’t seen him in a while. Apparently that was a good thing. He’s got an apartment that he’s been sharing with his girlfriend for a while now. Apparently it’s been a roller coaster ride for the both of them. But he spent some time recently at the Campus for Hope. Two weeks ago when he called, I believe he told me he was coming up on 90 days of sobriety. 90 days. He was, however behind in his rent. Just wondering if we knew of a place that might be able to help him get caught up. We swapped phone messages over the next few days. When we finally connected, he made a point to tell me he wasn’t really asking for anything from us. It seemed as though he just wanted someone to talk to. We talked on the phone for a good 20 minutes. About the journey ahead for him. And the difficulties he’ll face. But he has good aftercare and I have hopes that he’ll make it. We’re going to get together for coffee soon. I hope we can make that happen. He said he’d call this week sometime, so hopefully we can make that happen. Vigorously!! :)

And finally, I got an email this week from a lady named Diane. Her brother, Dan, passed away at the shelter two weeks ago. 39 years young. I knew Dan and it was pretty disheartening to hear of his passing. I read an article in the paper a day or so after Dan’s death. I saw his sister’s name in the article. She lives in Wichita, Kansas. I took a shot and googled her name and found an email address that looked like it might be her. It was. I told her that we knew Dan and we thought highly of him. Dan had a history of various mental illnesses according to the article. She was definitely feeling the loss of her brother. I know the feeling. So, I just told her that we knew Dan, we really liked him, and we’d really miss him. She was very thankful that someone cared. She just said that they were not a wealthy family and they tried the best they could, but they finally just couldn’t do it anymore. So Dan ended up here at a shelter. And at the very young age of 39, he left us. At times I wonder if what we are doing really does make a difference. Are we really doing anything that matters for our friends? Really matters? And her response to me reaffirmed to me that maybe it does. She simply said that what we did for her brother would never be forgotten. I simply have to tell her that we do nothing. If it weren’t for the Lord’s provisions and blessings, none of our activities would ever happen. Ever. No way. So to Dan’s family? We’ll pray for them during this difficult time. It’s not supposed to happen this way. But it does. I know. I’ve been there…

So hopefully, Tommy makes his appointment this week. And maybe some of our other friends will follow in his footsteps. And hopefully Kevin and I can get together for a cup of coffee. Vigorously!! :)

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

…it simply matters…