Sunday, December 26, 2010. Omaha weather - Pretty doggone cold! The temperature on a downtown Omaha street corner? Cold but pretty doggone bearable. It seems that our friends in Charlotte NC, Atlanta GA, Anniston AL, and various other locales in the Southeast received more snow than dear, old Omaha. And that's ok. But I digress. So you see, it seems that whenever we end up on that corner, things are just good. And this day, things were especially good. Southridge Church came and killed it! As part of a thing called winter Servolution, they came with abundant amounts of food for all. And this after a month long winter coat and clothing drive. And Eagle Heights was back to help as well. And a very fine representative from St. Rose. And there were others. My feeble memory fails me so often that I hesitate to mention who came. But those who come time after time, just know that when you come, He knows. That should be all that matters. So on this day, the day after Christmas, He showed up and we showed up and it was good. I say that knowing that many of our friends, even though they were forced to deal with the elements in December in downtown Omaha, came and left with the blessings and provisions granted by our God. It never ceases to amaze me that people profusely thank us for showing up. And we only do it once a month these days. But they are so thankful. And I say it time and again. All we have to do is show up. And when we do, amazing things happen. Like our friends from Beaver City, Nebraska showing up with bags of gloves, socks, hand warmers, etc. Amazing. They drove for 3.5 or 4 hours to get here and deliver gift bags to our friends for Christmas. Amazing. And Life Church showed up with enough coats to clothe a small army. Just amazing how God knits it all together. So here's one example of great things that happen when we step out of our normal comfort zones. Now this may seem like a small thing, but I'd venture to say otherwise. I'll probably screw up some of the details of this, but the big picture remains. One person who showed up from Southridge happened to bring an extra coat. One person who showed up to take part in the meal and other activities needed a coat. Showed up on that corner without a coat. In that weather. In Omaha. In DECEMBER!! I have no idea why she had no coat. And I'm not really sure it matters so much, other than the fact that God was working in the details. You see, if we just show up, He will also. He'll handle the details. He cares about the details. He'll blow the details out of the water. Even if the water is frozen! As it's apt to be here in these Midwestern winters. I've seen it too many times. Someone will show up on that corner with a need. And no matter how big or small that need may be, He meets it. It has nothing to do with us. Other than the fact that he uses us sometimes to facilitate. But he can't use us if we don't go. We have to go. Have to show up. Have to do something...somewhere.
And it always is surprising to me to see just who might show up on any given Sunday. We get groups from various local churches. And of course the fine folks from Beaver City. We get people who show up once, never to be heard from again. We get individuals who've been helping almost from day one. Those who have hung in there with us through all of our craziness. Our great friends who allow us to show up when we do and those who trust us to come when we say we will. I had someone mention to me as we were unloading that she knew we'd be there. And she was having a conversation with another fellow who might have had some doubts about whether or not we'd show up. She made a statement similar to the following upon our arrival - "See I told you they'd be here...their word is gold". Too much credit. Honestly, we try to do what we say we'll do. For all the days that we've shown up on that corner, one thing I've always prayed for is the ability to remain consistent. Even in my own busted and broken ways, I've found that the one thing that has to be prominent is consistency. If we say we're going to do something, we'd darned well better do it. We've come up short on a few occasions, but I don't think we've ever missed a Sunday when we said we'd be there. That's simply a testament to the amazing Grace of God. The mere fact that He allows us to show up? Unbelievable. Because, again, when we do, amazing things happen. And we meet some of the most amazing people. I overheard one fellow say something to Robin that was very cool. I don't know what his deal was. Don't know if he was homeless, living in a local shelter, or what. I just know he was there. And it was as things were winding down. She asked him if he'd gotten anything to eat. He hadn't. She expressed her concern and sorrow that he wasn't able to get anything to eat. His response? He simply said it was ok. He just came for the smiles. Very cool.
And finally, one last thing. I met a young fellow on this Sunday that got me thinking. 22 years old. Heroin addict for 6 years. I'm not great at math, but that would mean he started using at the age of 16. Heroin at 16? Seriously? My oldest son is 16. I cannot imagine. But I know how this happens. I did some things when I was 12 that would make people wonder. So this guy using at 16? It happens. He said he had no family. Was living in the shelter. He'd been on methadone for a month. For anyone not familiar with methadone, it's a synthetic drug used to wean addicts off of heroin. So he'd been on it for a month. His words were very slow. His mannerisms were somewhat drawn out. He needed a ride back to the shelter. He'd gathered several bags of clothing from our containers and was real happy to have been "fortunate enough to have decided to make that walk" on this particular day. Fortunate? Lucky? Not in my book. That's a blessing my man. And the only reason is because a bunch of crazy people showed up. I had about 5 minutes in the van with this guy to try to explain that this wasn't luck. It was purely God's providence. Look, I have no idea how this all works. All I know is that when people hear a voice telling them to go and do something, they might want to listen. I'd have never had the opportunity to share my faith with this fellow if not for being there in the first place. And I'm not foolish enough to think that just because of a 5 minute van ride with me (of all people) that anything I did will become some sort of Hallelujah moment for this guy. But I do know that he heard some things during the course of that short ride that he probably wouldn't have otherwise heard on this particular day. I was able to briefly share with him some of my past and he did the same. And I was able to tell him how much God loves him. And he heard. All because we were there. But you have to go. Have to. Otherwise, it's just good intentions. I just believe there's more to this whole thing. There are entirely too many people out there who are hurting and may never darken the doors of a church. But if the church comes to them? Well, Who knows what may happen?
Give freely and spontaneously. Don't have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God, your God's, blessing in everything you do, all your work and ventures. There are always going to be poor and needy people among you. So I command you: Always be generous, open purse and hands, give to your neighbors in trouble, your poor and hurting neighbors. ~Deuteronomy 15:10-11 (The Message)
Make a difference…it matters.
