Down by the River…

Each week, we travel from our comfortable suburban home here in the frozen tundra that is Nebraska to a downtown street corner. We all put on our warmest clothes, given that most winter Sundays the elements can be downright dangerous. Now today was a beautiful day, but totally out of the norm. As I’ve stated so many times, some of our friends live out in this crazy stuff. I do not know how they do it. One fellow that endured the cold last year in a tent on the river, using candles as his primary source of heat, is now staying at a home that I believe is designed for veterans. Good thing, because Robin and I were wondering how in the world we’d keep him stocked with candles for yet another winter. I believe his sole mission most days last winter was to gather as many candles as he could to simply survive. No more. And we see him a couple times a week now and he looks so much better. So he’s not outdoors anymore, but one couple are on our minds a lot during the cold winter months. It’s a very strange situation for me to warp my feeble brain around. She actually has a job and I believe it’s full-time or at least as close to full-time as it can be. And she just happens to be the young lady I wrote about a few weeks ago who appeared to have a case of frostbite on her legs. As I mentioned last week that seemed to be healing up, but it still looked a bit rough.

This couple, these people are one of the reasons we do what we do. At least that’s my belief. But I mean, how in the world do you function out of a tent in the middle of winter? Especially if you have to punch in to a time clock every day. Her husband is a fellow that I’ve seen around, most Sundays, for probably a couple of years now. He makes "heating stoves" out of coffee cans for warmth in the winter months. His appearance is somewhat striking, of only for the soot on his hands and face. I say that only because it just magnifies the dangerous conditions that they live under. First of all let me stress this again. Their primary residence is a tent. On the river. In Omaha, Nebraska. As many times as I’ve seen pictures of people living under porches, in cardboard boxes, whatever, I absolutely cannot get my head around living in a tent in this city. Just can’t do it. Secondly, the conditions in which they live have to be fairly dangerous. Open flames in a nylon tent just don’t seem to be a good match. And I cannot begin to imagine the things they must be inhaling in that environment. I’ve camped before. I know how much fun it can be to set up a campsite, tent, fire pit, etc., but this ain’t camping. This is living. I know that whenever I’ve camped, towards the end of the experience, no matter how much fun I’m having, when I think of home, I don’t think of a tent. We camped with some great friends in Charlotte once. At a campground. We played putt-putt, fished, all the things that make the experience what it is. And these were great friends. Family even. But I never had any visions of making that my home. By the grace of God, I didn’t have to. These folks, for a myriad of reasons, most of which I have no way of knowing, call this type of living "home".

Now I know that we are only on this gigantic ball of dirt for a very short time. I get that. And we are really all homeless in the big picture. I get that. But to spend what time we do have here in this kind of environment, well that just baffles me. And I guess it’s these kinds of situations that keep me going back to our corner. And mind you, this is a couple that rarely asks for anything. Lots of the people that we meet on a weekly basis ask for help with all kinds of crazy things. Then there are folks like this who show up, have a decent meal with us, maybe grab a few pieces of clothing or whatever else the Lord sends us with, and then they disappear into the downtown area among all the others that we meet with weekly. Only to end up at their home later. That home that just happens to be down by the river. Which is probably pretty cool at times, at least in the summer or spring months. And maybe for a couple of days at a time. But I’d guess cool is not a word most would use to describe these living conditions, especially during the brutal winter months her in Nebraska. I know there are times when I’m in my home where I get a chill and I just can’t shake it. Can’t imagine what that must be like for these folks. I know there are times when Robin wants a little something warm to drink. We simply turn on a gas burner and voila! Heat. And minutes later, warm tea. How does that work for this couple?

I’m not sure what compelled me to write about this situation. Only that I know how blessed I am and I sometimes wonder how they are where they are and how we are where we are? How does that work? That I am blessed to be where I am and they are one of many who are where they are? How? Why? And I wonder what 2009 will bring? With the economy the way it is and with a change in leadership in our country, what does the future hold for us? Will there be more down by the river? I’m obviously rambling, but it just struck me today. This being Super Bowl Sunday and with all the excess that will be spent today on a football game. A football game! Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love football. Especially college football. And I’ll definitely watch the game today. I read an article that mentioned how much money a Super Bowl brings to the local economy of a city hosting such an event. In 2007, it was approximately a half a billion dollars. Half a billion! I can’t even imagine what that looks like. And then we have our 800 Billion – 1 Trillion dollar stimulus package. These are absolutely stunning and ridiculous numbers to me. What could that much money look like if you stacked it all up? My goodness. And what would it mean to a couple living on the river? I suppose it could make all the difference in the world. A thought to ponder of course. I don’t know how this is all supposed to work. How we are all supposed to coexist among the dichotomy that exists? I just don’t know. I suppose we’ll just keep showing up on that corner and God will reveal to us what He’ll reveal. And in the meantime, we’ll keep doing what it is He has us doing. In the here and now. A friend of ours, who is moving to South Carolina, used a phrase once that stuck with me. He mentioned that sometimes we try to find all the answers to the stories around us and mostly they are just not answerable. But the phrase that struck me went something like this – God, I’ve never run a universe before, so I’ll leave that to you. You do a pretty amazing job at it and I would most definitely screw it up.

So for our friends living down by the river? We’ve offered to help them get a place for the winter months and they politely declined. I guess the only thing we can do is keep offering and keep praying. I can’t run their world. Down by the river. I can barely manage mine. :)

Peace, have a great and blessed week and make a difference.

…it matters to that one… :)