Stuff and things...

We started serving from two different lines last week. It lends to obvious advantages. Time being the key. Less waiting. More time to hang out and chat. Easier to serve a warm meal. Things like that. One big disadvantage, from a purely selfish standpoint for me is my inability to meet and greet all of our friends downtown. I always work my way through the line after we pray and just say hi to everyone. It’s probably one of my favorite things to do. I get to see old friends, new friends and in between friends. It helps me to remember names also. And here’s the big one for me. It allows me keep, in my mind, a sort of mental record of who was there on a given Sunday. I have zero recall most times, so I don’t know what that really buys me. The thing is, it’s tough with so many people to know who’s there and who isn’t. I saw a guy today, as I was working my way through line number one, that hasn’t been around in at least a year or more. He left quite some time back to work in Arizona. I asked him what he was doing back in Omaha? His answer was not so unlike many these days. Unemployment. Said if he was going to be unemployed, he might just as well be unemployed here. And he was with another fellow that I hadn’t seen in a while. Probably one of the best dressed homeless guys we’ve met in our time in the downtown area. So when our friend arrived from Arizona, he asked if we were still in business. I thought that was pretty funny. Still in business? I told him as long as God was in business, I imagined we’d be in business. I don’t really know what that meant, but I know I meant it, if that makes sense. So back to the dual line system. One of the major disadvantages for me is the inability to greet everyone. I’m going to have to make my arms longer or something because I haven’t figured out how to work my way back and forth between the lines. About halfway through the first line, I gave up and decided to do one at a time. And then I saw someone waiting for me at the end of line number one.
　
This fellow was released from jail recently. Ever since we’ve known him, I swear he’s been in jail more than he’s been out. Until recently. And like most of our friends, he’s a great guy. He’d literally give you the shirt off his back. So when he got out of jail this last time, he made a statement to me that I hear often. "I’m quitting Dave." Period. So I kind of shrugged it off. I hoped he would. I know he hoped for it also. But, after seeing and hearing it many times before from many different people, I had my doubts. But a funny thing has happened. Or maybe not so funny. This guy is really on a good path. For the most part, he’s quit the crazy lifestyle that got him in so much trouble…over and over and over. He’s got his own place now. No more living on the streets. No more bridges. No more any of that stuff. For now anyway. And he really seems to be taking pride in his new lifestyle. I couldn’t be happier for him. One problem still exists for him. And it’s a big one. You could say that he’s double dipping. He’s making a valiant attempt to rid himself of the destructive lifestyle that caused him so many problems over the years. But he’s still hanging around the same people. Different behavior on his part. Same massively destructive behavior from his buddies. Our friends. And he expects them to change. It’s a tough road. To really change, he’s probably going t have to make some impossibly difficult decisions sooner rather than later. I pray he has the intestinal fortitude to hang on and do what he knows he’ll probably have to do.
　
Here’s a bit of irony. The corner where we meet weekly is directly across the street from the main branch of the Omaha Public Library. It literally serves as a sort of day house for lots of our friends. Before today, it opened for business at 1:00 p.m. on Sundays. So from noon to 1:00, we had a pretty captive audience. But as of today, because of budget cuts, they’ve discontinued Sunday hours. No more library for our friends on Sundays. So from a selfish standpoint, I kind of liked it. We didn’t see the rush to get there that we normally see when the library opened. But for our friends? Not much to do on a Sunday now. And you know what idle time brings. But a funny thing happened last week. And I should mention that we’ve been seeing lots more kids and families on that corner recently. For whatever reason. So last week a fellow comes to our house with a donation. This is the realtor that actually handled our house sale. Great guy. And he shows up with tons of kid’s stuff. Not KidStuf. :) Kid’s stuff. Stuffed animals, some toys, and lots of kid’s books. Lots and lots of kid’s books. I have to be honest. When I saw the boxes in the garage, I had a bit of a minor anxiety attack. We usually don’t take much stuff down for the kids. There just haven’t been that many kids…until recently. I pray that we don’t start seeing more. So when I saw the bags and boxes, I wondered what in the world we’d do with them. And Robin says to me, "Just take a box down and see how it goes." Or something like that. But I couldn’t take just one box. So we took several. And as I made my way through the serving line, anytime I saw anyone with kids, I told them to make sure they got over to the trailer when we put all the other stuff out because we had some special stuff for them also. And the books were a hit. Kids sitting all over the sidewalk picking through books and taking the ones they liked. There’s something about kids that warms my heart. I absolutely love kids. I loved being involved in our KidStuf program when our family attended our church in Charlotte. Loved it. And when I saw all the kids today going through the books and walking away with armfuls? Well, let’s just say I had zero anxiety and it was a good thing. I think probably half the books found a new home today. I think we might be on to something in that regard. Just a bit ironic that the first day the library is closed on Sunday, the kids get a treat and I’m reminded of what it means to see them doing what kids do. On a downtown street corner that is pretty chaotic lots of times. What an absolute blessing to be a part of God’s work today. I’m blown away that we can be in community for few hours each week with some of the greatest people. What a deal.
　
If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. ~Deuteronomy 15:7-8 (NIV)
　
Peace, have a great and blessed week and make a difference.
　
…it matters to that one… :)