A beautiful mess…

So, I sometimes sit here wondering what in the world I’ll write about and I wonder when I’ll simply go blank. Here’s the thing. We go down to that corner every week and a million and one things happen. It’s hard to remember back and write about any one or two things. It is sometime total chaos, sometimes mildly controlled chaos and other times it seems to run fairly smoothly. Today? Seemed fairly chaotic to me. We had quite a crowd today. Lots of people. Lots of barbeque chicken, lots of stuff and lots of conversation. Of all the things we do, that is probably the most important. Just hanging out listening. Anyone that knows me knows that’s difficult for me. Just listening. I have a hard time just doing anything that requires my undivided attention. Sometimes for me, trying to pin me down to actually just sit and listen is somewhat akin to trying to nail Jell-o to a tree. Robin can attest to that. Probably not going to happen. So today when we got downtown, I was feeling a little down. Christian has had a cold this week, so I thought maybe I was coming down with that. I absolutely hate going down there when I feel as though I’m not up to par. I just feel like I’m not giving those folks 110% and that’s just not fair to them. Or Him. But it happens.

So today, we get to our corner and I’m immediately confronted by JoAnne. Now JoAnne is an interesting young lady. And I’ll just leave it at that. She tells me, before I’ve even unlocked the trailer that there is going to be a fight. Great! Nice way to start the day. So I look around and it looks like things are calming down, so we go ahead and get everything set up. Before we pray, I have a couple of announcements to make. Seems that on this day, 11 years ago, my boy Nick joined the Laney family as a full time member. So I let everyone know that today was Nick’s day. And the whole group broke into an impromptu rendition of Happy Birthday to Nick. He was simply one big, fat grin. From ear to ear. It was a sight to see. Because if anyone gets it in my family it’s Nick. Now don’t’ get me wrong. We’ve been at this for almost two years now and my kids have been in since day one. They get it. And Robin surely gets it. But it was Nick that said, way back in early November of 2006 as we sat in the van surveying what it was we thought we were going to do, before ever setting foot on that corner, as he was munching on a bag of cereal, that we could just start that day and he’d donate his cereal. That’s Nick. He’s a kid and he has his moments where I, as a dad, wonder what the heck he’s thinking, but far more often than not, he gets it. So today, to hear our friends singing Happy Birthday to Nick, well that was pretty cool. You see, they know us. And I think they trust us. I hope it’s because we are real to our friends. I guess by that I mean we really have no agenda. Other than to share our faith with them and to pray with them and to offer a little hope and love to them. Truth be told, Nick could be the face of this whole thing. And here’s why. Nick has this childlike thing about him. I guess it’s because he’s 11? But he has no hidden anything. What you see with him is what you get. I hope that’s what our friends see in all of us. Transparency. It’s what you get with the birthday boy. And he has some friends down there. Nick is in the know. It’s so cool to see my kids want to go down and help. And with them, help, lots of times simply means being a kid and talking to people as such. Just seems different with Nick.

I probably spent an hour with one of the neighbor girls this morning. I was in the garage getting all the stuff ready to go and she was there asking questions. For an hour, we talked about what it is we do downtown and she helped me fold socks, load the trailer and just hang out. It was interesting to me to break it down to a level she could understand. Most times I don’t even understand. She’s 10. So as I was explaining it all to her, I really had to step back and grasp what it is we do each week. And it really is something that could only be orchestrated by God Himself. Some would say otherwise, but I know better. This little girl was thoroughly interested. She comes over to our house to play with the kids all the time, but this was by far the most I’ve ever talked to her. I kept thinking she’d get bored and want to leave, but she stuck around. To the point that I invited her to come down with us, anytime. Well Erin took that and ran with it. So she and her younger brother came down with us. And they hung out with our friends and the thing about kids is they have no fear most times. Now that can be good or bad, but in this case, it was good. Because I know our friends pretty well. Some of them drive me crazy, but ain’t that the case in any situation. Work, church, family, whatever. There’s always a few that push us over the edge. But the kids are far more forgiving. So today, Nick and our neighbor friends hung out with our friends downtown and Nick must have been wished Happy Birthday a hundred times. It was good.

One last thing. There’s a fellow that’s been coming down for a few weeks now. His name is Don. Has a trach and usually covers it with his thumb to talk. I haven’t had much time to get to know Don very well. It’s on my list of things to do. But today I got to know a little of Don more than I would have imagined. He asked one of the great people that come down so faithfully each week to help if she might be able to get him a bottle of powder…body powder, talcum, something like that. She asked me if it was ok? It would mean she’d have to leave to go get it. I just told her to be careful. So her son comes back with the powder a bit later, discreetly hidden in his pocket. So Don commences to basically take a powder bath right there on the corner. We were packed up and ready to leave and he was bathing in the stuff. Whatever works. So Robin gets in the van and Don has one last request. "Dave" he says. "Could you RUB some of this powder on my back?" Huh? Me? Now Don is a pretty big fella, and I was wondering exactly what tact I should take here. Wasn’t much of an out for me. I know this thing is going to happen. So he takes out a sweatshirt that I’d given him earlier and pours some of the powder on the sleeve. Tells me to use that to put it on. Then he hands me the bottle. Robin is in the van laughing hysterically. Thanks Robin. Love ya! And then off comes Don’s shirt. My first thought? Jesus washed his homey’s feet. Surely I could help my friend Don. So I pour the powder on his back, all the while getting instruction from Don to make sure I get it on right. I’m laughing as I write because, looking back, it seems so crazy. Don telling me to make sure I get those shoulder blades real good. Now mind you, it only took me about 30 seconds to do the deed, and I was using his sweatshirt to apply the powder, but I have to tell you it humbled me. I’ve done lots of crazy things, but that was a first for me.

Here’s the bottom line. Lots of crazy stuff happens in a two to three hour window on that corner each week. But we are so blessed to be able to gather in the presence of God and so blessed as a family to be able to do this week in and week out. It can get a little messy at times. Literally and figuratively. But it’s a good mess. A beautiful mess. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. And I am so amazingly blessed as a husband and father to be able to share this with my family. It’s pretty amazing. A mess, but a beautiful mess. Now the powder thing? Well….

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

Go out and make a difference.

…it matters to that one… :)