I Feel Like A New Man!

First things first. Cold. Cold. Cold. Cold. Cold. I mean really cold. I notice it more these days. I don’t know if it has to do with the fact that my age is starting to kind of get away from me? I’ll be 48 this year. I don’t know when or how that happened. 48?! I seriously don’t feel that old. At least not all the time. I feel like I’m in pretty good health. I try to exercise pretty regularly, but I don’t eat all that well. I’m working on that. In fact we just finished a 21 day fast. Mostly veggies, fruit, stuff like that. So it was pretty fitting that today, the final day of the fast, we go downtown to hang out with our friends in some balmy, January Nebraska weather. Did I mention it was cold? I was kind of getting to a point a second ago, but got a little off track. I was simply going to mention how weird it is that when I get out in this goofy weather, it feels like my fingers might actually fall off. I don’t know for sure when that started being an issue for me. I guess in single digit temperatures, that just happens. Just seems like my circulation ain’t what it used to be. I wonder how some of our friends deal with being out in this stuff all the time? I mean, wouldn’t Florida, California, or some other warm weather destination be more of the way to go? Just wondering…

So when we first pulled up to our corner today, it looked like there might be 20 or 30 people there. I was thinking that was probably a good thing. I’m not sure I’d venture out in this stuff if I didn’t have to. But in a matter of minutes, I look down the sidewalk and our tables are set up, the line is forming down the other sidewalk and there are suddenly a lot of people. I don’t know if that speaks to the needs that are being met, the desire of folks to simply come and hang out or just what the deal was. But man, it was cold down there today and I was actually a little shocked at how long our line was. We had a great meal, lots of winter clothing and tons of other stuff. But it has to be more than that. I’m not kidding, it was fairly ugly. In times past, Sundays like this may have drawn 30 or 40 people. Just seemed like there were more today.

It’s funny too how we always seem to have almost just enough of certain things, just when we need them. Even if I fail to bring some of those certain things. I mean, I try to remember everything, but that must be another symptom of this age thing. I don’t know, but as I was glad handing my way through the line of folks today, I noticed lots of guys that didn’t have gloves, hats, etc. I have no idea how you manage your way through a Nebraska winter without a decent pair of gloves. Or maybe they simply aren’t a priority to some. They certainly are to me. I must have handed out 50 pairs of gloves today. At least. It was blowing my mind. Every time I’d turn around, another person would be asking for a pair of gloves! Crazy.

I met a fellow today for the first time. He met me at the side of our van. I was getting someone else a pair of gloves and he needed a pair. Imagine that? And he saw a coat in the back of the van. He was wearing a coat and also had a hoody. If I were to guess, I’d say he was probably in his 50s. Said his name was Mo. From Puerto Rico. I’m guessing Mo didn’t experience many days like this in Puerto Rico. Just a hunch. So he saw the coat in the van and asked in his broken English if it was for anyone? Any way he could have it? As I said, he had a jacket and a hoody. Looked ok to me. So I shut the van door and told him it was already spoken for. And it was. But whomever asked earlier was nowhere to be found. Funny, that. But that’s where the breakdown occurred and does occur for me sometimes. Far too often, I’ve thought I knew what people needed. If a guy has a coat, does he need another? If a guy has a pair of boots on, does he need another pair? If a guy has gloves, does he need new ones? I usually try my best to be discerning. I probably fail more often that I get it right. I sometimes don’t notice that the boots a guys is wearing, even though they look ok on the surface, might just have a sole that’s hanging on by threads. Or the coat that doesn’t actually zip up. Pretty ineffective in this climate. Not good. Just like sometimes we look like we have it all together on the outside, and yet internally, we are a freakin’ mess. Busted, broken, all sorts of messed up. That pretty much sums me up most times. So when I see these guys in need and we have what the guys need, it’s pretty much a no brainer. However, meeting the need is only half the battle. We have to meet it with love. And it probably needs to be unconditional. And maybe a little less judgmental. Have to be good stewards, but that coat does no one any good in my garage. Those boots keep no one’s feet warm on a shelf in my garage. Same with the gloves. Now there are the usual suspects that try to hustle a little once in a while and I usually know who those guys are. But you can’t hide bare hands in the middle winter in Omaha.

So Mo needed that coat. And maybe a word of encouragement. And maybe he needed to know that God was with us all today. He couldn’t believe his “luck”. I assured him it wasn’t luck. It was provision. By a God who loves him dearly. I think he already knew that. It never hurts to hear it. And it absolutely never hurts to see tangible signs. As we stood right there in the street, I helped him into his new coat, helped him get it zipped up and his words spoke volumes. “I feel like a new man”, he said. And there was pure joy on his face. All because of a new coat! I told him he looked great! You see, some may brush an encounter like this off as coincidence. Not me. Seen it too many times. And I’ve definitely made choices over the course of time where I’ve taken matters into my own hands and gotten ahead of where God was probably leading us. Definitely. Done some crazy things. But these days, I’m really trying my best to stay out of the way and simply let Him lead. And today, He led Mo to our corner. And the look in Mo’s eyes was priceless. Mo showed up. God showed up. A need was presented…and met. And Mo left, I hope, knowing God did a little business on that corner today. It was pretty cool. And very cold. But the two met and it was good…

He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done. ~ Proverbs 19:17

Make a difference…it matters.