Bringin’ it!

Today, as we made our way downtown, we actually took pictures from the van of the wicked looking cloud formations hanging over the Eastern horizon. So which direction were we heading? Well, East of course. I hate to be so repetitive, but this is something that Robin and I joke about, laugh about, pray about and simply put, tell anyone who will listen. It just doesn’t rain on us when we go downtown on Sundays. Like I said, I hate that I mention this so much, but today was simply the epitome of our faith and the fact that God has us covered on Sundays. This morning, as I loaded the trailer, the morning sun gave way to some pretty wickedly dark clouds and even a few drops of rain. I had the television on inside. The British Open was on I always like watching and listening to the major golf tournaments. So the Super Doppler Storm Team 7 Skycam First Warning Weather was telling us that we were in for a bit of trouble today. And I have to tell you I was wondering. Doubting maybe? How many times can we pull this off without getting absolutely soaked and eating with our friends in a torrential downpour? And to top things off, Robin committed our pop up canopy to a friend of ours for the day. I have to tell you when she told me she’d done that, I thought she’d lost her mind. Any other day but Sunday. That’s the only day we’d probably ever use it and you tell someone else they can use it? On a Sunday? Are you kidding me? It’s our only potential protection from the elements. But then, apparently, we never need protection from the elements. Right? So our friend comes over this morning and I help her load it into her van, all the while thinking to myself…"but what if we need it?" And I have to tell you it was looking as if we might need it.

So we get downtown and I see our friends waiting for us. I wonder if we are going to make it. I even go so far as to tell Robin that we might have to do an abbreviated version if the weather gets ugly. The thing is, we know it’s possible. It’s the weather for goodness sakes! And this summer, we’ve seen some of the most bizarre weather I can ever remember experiencing. Tornados, floods, you name it. Seems like we are in this endless Super Doppler tornado/severe thunderstorm watch/warning here in the Midwest. And the heat has been pretty intense. It is July. So you just never know what you’re going to get. Well if one would keep the faith, one might have a pretty good idea. So as we are unloading the trailer and getting set up, I look up and the skies are pretty black all around. The winds are kicking up pretty good. I’m handing tables, coolers, containers, whatever, out of the van at a pretty frantic pace. Trying to beat this thing. Whatever this thing might be. So we get set up, hurriedly, and I take my place on the small wall so we can pray and get this thing off and running. Now remember, the skies are black as far as we can see while we are setting up. In all directions. I did see a bit of a break off to the West, but I’m thinking that we are going to get it and get it good. We always begin with the Lord’s Prayer. Collectively. All of us. It’s really very cool. And I normally follow that up with a quick prayer asking God to bless our time together, to bless the meal, and of course thanking him for the opportunity to gather in His name. On what is a pretty filthy corner otherwise. But not on Sundays. Not from noon to 2:00 or 3:00 or whenever. And apparently not today. It was indeed the quickest prayer I’ve probably ever prayed on that corner. Because, as I began, a wicked wind kicked up. You know the distracting kind. The wind that kind of makes you look around and say uh-oh. We might be in the middle of something here. It distracted me to the point that I looked up and saw plates and paper items blowing off the table. So we gave thanks and tried to hurry things up. Now if I had maybe a little more faith, I would have stood strong on that wall and gave Him the thanks and praise he so richly deserves. But it was a little scary. I have to be honest. So I was distracted to the point that I kind of hung around the table to see if we couldn’t hurry things up. Robin was handing out flatware in the line and even had the gall to tell me to have them hurry things up. Oh ye of little faith…Dave and Robin. And then, as our friend Steve told me as we were unloading, we were going to see a miracle. And we did. The skies cleared and the winds died down. And it got hot. Now some might say whatever? So the weather just changed. Didn’t have anything to do with anything. Well, some might be wrong. Maybe. Because, I’m telling you it was extremely ominous when we removed our butts from the seats of that van and began unloading. And it was all around us. Know what I think? When I was praying on that wall and that wind kicked up and started blowing stuff all over the place? It was almost as if God Himself was saying to us…"I am here. Let’s get it on". Because I suppose that’s how he operates.
One of our friends mentioned something today that clarified that to me. And it was a simple thing. It was about hot sauce of all things. He mentioned that once he was going through the line and thought he might use a little of the hot sauce that is always present on the table. Hadn’t used any hot sauce in quite a while and thought he might use a little on that particular day. He got to a spot to begin eating, took a bite of the soup and according to him, used a mild expletive to pronounce to those around him the degree of heat in his mouth at that moment in time. He took the time to go back to the table and see exactly what it was he’d seasoned his soup with. Rule number one? Always check the label first. That darn Habanero hot sauce will have a little more kick to it than your average Tabasco sauce. I told him if we’re bringing it, then we are bringing the heat man! And that’s how God works. If he’s bringing it, you better step back my man and watch Him work. He’ll bring it.

And today? He brought it. Like He always does. I don’t know why we are always so amazed that he keeps us dry on Sundays. Or that He continues to provide in the way that He does. Because He is simply amazing in that sense. Maybe it’s just hard to believe that He’d keep providing in the manner that He does. That we could experience a change in weather the way we did today and have on other occasions and doubt that it could happen? You almost had to be there to experience it. Anyone that was there can attest to the fact that something very cool happened on that corner today. And continues to happen. Lots of life storms brewing on that corner. Lots of everyday, anyperson, dealin’ with life kind of storms. He can change ‘em. We know that. In the blink of an eye. Gotta have faith. Gotta bring it week after week.
I got an email from a friend of ours. I’ll end with it because it was so cool to me. He was simply thanking us, but it was so much more than that and he couldn’t possibly know how much it meant to me that he would take the time to send it.

Here’s his message…

"Dear Dave,

This is _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. I should have written and mailed this letter. This is the proper thing to do but in the situation in which I find myself, this is the best I can do. I hope you don't mind.

Thank you very much for the belt you gave me on Sunday. I appreciate it very much. Now I appear better dressed. You cannot imagine how grateful I am.

Thank you also for the selfless service you do on Sundays. I understand you have done this EVERY Sunday for close to 2 years - without missing - come rain or snow. Consistency is the distinguishing mark of a man. What impresses me most is the cheerfulness with which you and your family do it. It is exemplary.

May God Bless you, your family and your ministry.

Kindly pass this message of gratitude to your wife, Robin. Give your children my regards.

I am,
Sincerely and Gratefully Yours,
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"

And my friend Eric Ryan Grob is probably THE smartest and best looking person I’ve ever met. And of course I love him.

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

Go out and make a difference.

…it matters to that one… :)

Running on Empty…

Today seemed to one of the most controlled forms of chaos that I’ve been involved with in quite some time. Lots of people, cool breeze under the trees in the park, lots of people, old faces, lots of food and did I mention lots of people? It was cool to see old friends again. That’s certainly one of the things I’ve noticed since we began doing this thing. You may not see a guy for months and then he just shows up out of nowhere. Irish Joe was back today. Smilin’ Lyndon also. One of the happiest guys I’ve ever met. Been in Kansas City for a while, but he’s back now. Shawn was back. And Butch even showed up today. Very transient lifestyle for lots of our friends. Funny how that happens. It just dawns on me sometimes that I haven’t seen someone in weeks or months and they suddenly show up. Seemed like there was lots of that today. We didn’t get off the corner until 3:30. I felt pretty exhausted by the time we finally packed up and headed off down 13 Street towards home. But my tank wasn’t completely empty…

I saw our friend Tony today. Off in the corner of the park…by himself. Tony was a guy we helped get to Boston a couple of months ago. Only one problem. He didn’t go. Lined up a bus ticket and everything for Tony. He didn’t make it. If I were to venture a guess, I’d say that we’ve been able, by the grace of God, to help 10 or 15 people leave Omaha and get home or at least somewhere that meant maybe a new possibility. A new outlook or perhaps a new opportunity. Tony showed up one Sunday and asked for help. Needed a way to get to Boston. He clearly wasn’t from around here. But he has a couple of kids here and I believe that was the pull to keep him in Omaha. So we did our best to help him get to Boston. I’d guess that of the people that we’ve managed to get on a bus, only a couple have actually called to let us know that they made it. And that’s ok. I mean, it would be nice to know that guy made it to his destination in one piece, but it’s certainly not a condition of the deal The deal is unconditional. Guys lots of times tell us they’ll send us the money back as a form of repayment. I don’t think anyone has yet and that too is ok. It is what it is. Maybe one day they’ll be in a position to help someone out. Who knows? So a couple of weeks ago, Tony shows up as we are unloading the trailer and it’s the first time I’ve seen or heard from him since he supposedly boarded the bus to Boston. I was mildly agitated that he was still here. I’m not sure I had that right. But I was. So he apologized profusely and told me that he is still going, but he is just in a bad place and was just confused. So he shows up again today and I see him sitting off in the corner of the park alone. After we get everything set up and I manage to greet everyone in the line, Tony catches up to me and offers the following analogy. He says you know how a car starts running low on gas and eventually runs out? Well he’s running low spiritually and needs a little prayer to refill. So we talk for a bit and he attempts to explain what it is that’s keeping him here. His 2 boys. I can understand that. So he just says that he’s running on empty and can I pray for him. So we pray. A little bit away from all the hustle and bustle of the corner, we prayed. And then he said something to me that humbled me to the core. I won’t go into the detail of it, but it had to do with seeing Christ in what we do on that corner. And in me personally. And I have to tell you that it scares me. It’s a huge responsibility that I believe God has placed with us and to attempt to live up to that is something that frightens and humbles me at the same time. So hopefully I’ll see Tony again. But I pray that the Lord will get a hold of him and show him the way. Whether that be the way to Boston, Omaha or wherever. Just that he shows him the way. One thing he said after we prayed was the he felt about a quarter full. I laughed and told him to see me before he left and hopefully we could get him up to half a tank.

Lots of things happen every week and I really struggle trying to figure out which ones to record in this running journal. I could seriously write a book every week if I wasn’t such a poor typist! But one thing happened today that moved me in a strange way. A couple of weeks ago a lady shows up on our corner. Not homeless. Clearly. And she asks if there is a way that she can help. You see, she met one of our homeless friends on a corner about 5 miles west of where we meet on Sundays. He was probably trying to "earn" a little spending cash and I’m guessing she stopped and donated to his cause. If I got the story right, she thanked him and asked him for a prayer. Frank closes his eyes and says a few words and then says he’s not real good at that sort of thing and then invites her downtown and says that "those guys are better at it than me". Those guys obviously being us. Now we’ve known Frank since day one. Great guy. But he has a serious alcohol addiction. Not so unusual with some of our friends. But he invites her downtown and she comes and wants to help. And she came back again today. The thing about her is she has a real hardship in her family. Her husband was an avid runner. Until 3 years ago. He collapsed one day while on a run and now lives his life in a wheelchair. I can’t imagine. But she has such faith. As I talked with her and her son today, and her husband sat in his chair, seemingly oblivious to all the activity happening around him, I had to wonder exactly what his sense of recognition really was? Was he hearing the conversation that was taking place literally all around him? He didn’t seem to be aware at all. But a couple of times I did notice his head turn…sort of. I was standing almost in front of him and on at least a couple of different occasions, I noticed him look towards me. It was so odd. And we got an opportunity to pray with him for a few minutes. It was a powerful time and I can’t believe our friend Frank was responsible for the meeting. God does indeed have a sense of humor! Our homeless friends inviting people down to see us. The tables are definitely turning on us!

So today was definitely a great blessing. We didn’t leave the corner until almost 3:30. We spent quite a while after everyone had left talking with a couple of fellows who have been studying at Creighton University in what they called the Institute for Priestly Formation. If I understood them correctly, it is a program that assists in the spiritual formation of priests in the Roman Catholic Church. We spent quite a bit of time speaking with them and it was a great conversation. They’d heard about our activities from some of the guys in the park and came down today to see what it was all about. It’s always interesting to me when someone shows up and says they’ve heard about us from our friends. I often wonder what they think of us crazy suburbanites showing up every Sunday, trying to share a little of our faith with them. But not really. Because after hanging out with them for the past 20 months or so, it’s become pretty apparent that that the road goes both ways. Whenever I seem to be running on empty, I just show up down there and God most assuredly blesses me with a least a half tank or more. It’s all good.

And my friend ERG is one beautifully gifted individual. And of course I love him.

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

Go out and make a difference.

…it matters to that one… :)

Kind of lost it today…

So today was pretty normal by most standards. At least in this world we venture into on Sundays. Kind of hot and muggy, sticky, but always a little cool under the trees in the park. And it sprinkled a little on us. God does indeed have a sense of humor, because Robin and I are always telling everyone who will listen that it absolutely never rains on us from noon to about 1:30 on Sundays. It can be raining so hard sometimes that we’d better be lining ‘em up two by two, but come noon? The rains always stop. So today, just as Robin was sharing this with someone, it starts to sprinkle ever so lightly. And then it stopped. Just a bit of God’s humor.

One of the things we’ve always tried to help with downtown is shoes for our friends. It is pretty painful to see a guy show up it tattered old shoes knowing we could maybe help. So it never fails that every week I’m asked for a pair of sneakers or work boots, or in today’s case, a pair of shower shoes even. The fellow asking for them was Sabino. Didn’t speak very good English. Didn’t know what they were even called. And he was trying to tell me what he needed and I wasn’t picking it up so quickly. I mean he really doesn’t speak very good English at all. And then Margie spoke with him. Margie is fluent in Spanish. She told me she’d get him a pair of shower shoes next week. All about the hookup. Another fellow asked for a pair of sneakers last week. Jeff has or had some kind of cancer in the area between his chin and his lower lip. He’s had surgery a few times I believe and it’s healing slowly, but pretty well, however it’s hard for him to control his saliva. Just one of the things he has to deal with, along with being homeless. He always carries a towel to keep it dry, but there is literally a hole in the area between his chin and his lower lip. And his towel usually isn’t so clean. So today we show up with his sneakers, along with about 6 other pairs for folks who had asked last week. So as the day wore on, there was no sign of Jeff. A few minutes after 2:00, I start thinking about packing up and still no sign of Jeff. Another fellow shows up and he asks me if I can help him with a pair of shoes. He is obviously in need. As it happens, he needs the same size I’d gotten for Jeff. Since Jeff didn’t show up, I make the command decision to give Jeff’s shoes to Carl. I don’t know Carl very well, but he clearly needed new shoes. So as I give him the shoes, he asks me to pray "to" him. Huh? It just sounded a little weird. He just wanted a bit of prayer right here and now. About this time, our friend Menelik shows up and kind of inserts himself into the conversation. Menelik sees me giving Carl the shoes and immediately tells me of his need for shoes also. Says what he needs is…and Carl interrupts him and says what he needs is for us to take each others hands because we are getting ready to pray. Now. Carl tells me what we need to pray for, and as he finishes telling me of his needs, I tell him to just say what he just said in a prayer. I’d be more than happy to say it for you, but you just said it pretty good my man. And then Menelik takes charge. As he’s pretty much crushing my hand, we pray…right in the street. The three of us. The African dude, me and Carl. As we finish, Carl tells me we need to do a one on one sometime. You got it Carl. You tell me when…

So as Carl is walking away with Jeff’s shoes, at around 2:15, guess who walks up. You got it…Jeff is here for his shoes. What I tried to explain to Jeff is this - I’m not going home with shoes. If you ask and then you don’t show up, someone else will get ‘em. That’s the way we’ve always done it. Right or wrong, that’s the way. Because if you show up a couple of hours late, there’s no guarantee there’ll be any food, and I have a hard time taking things home with me when the need is so great on that corner. It’s just difficult. So I gave Jeff’s shoes away to Carl. Now Jeff didn’t know who got his shoes, only that they weren’t on his feet. And he needed some. And to say he was angry would be an understatement. And it was apparent that he’d been maybe drinking. Like I said it was about a quarter after two at this point, so we were pretty much wrapping things up. It was particularly stressful for me at that point, because I had a guy who needed a few bucks to make up the difference to get a bus ticket to Sioux City. I had another guy who needed help getting to Fremont Nebraska, but was really trying to get to his sister’s house in Gillette Wyoming. And another fellow needed local bus tickets to get to a job interview on Monday. And yet another guy needed a little legal advice. And it didn’t matter how much I told him I wasn’t an attorney, he kept asking my advice. So I was feeling a little pulled. And then Jeff shows up asking for his shoes, which at this point were walking down Douglas St. on Carl’s feet. So in the middle of all this, I get the universal sign of appreciation from Jeff telling me I was number one! Yeah, here we are trying to help some folks out and Jeff is giving me the "tramp salute", as our friend John calls it. And then he drops a few ‘F’ bombs on me and at this point I’m getting just a little angry at my friend Jeff. And then he yells at Robin asking if he can at least get a plate of food. And then I lost it a little and told him he was p_ _ _ ing me off. Now I’ve never lost it with any of our friends before. There are certainly personalities in that community that don’t mesh well with mine but you get that anywhere. But today, I was just a little more than upset with Jeff and I kind of blew my cool. I don’t think he was expecting it, and I certainly wasn’t. And then when he asked for a plate of food, I kind of lost it. Ironically, as Robin so graciously pointed out to me later, this whole event transpired immediately after Carl, Menelik and myself were praying in the street. So there must have been someone else at work here. Obviously. So I told Jeff we had no more food and I was getting increasingly agitated with him. And then I remembered that there was indeed food in the front seat of the van. A whole pan that wasn’t served. I must admit I was shaking a bit as I took the pan to the back of the trailer to get a plate of food for Jeff. As I brought the plate of food to Jeff, I apologized to Jeff for losing it and he did the same. It was over. That’s how it works. Ask for forgiveness…and then forget it. Next week will be better Jeff. But you better be there at noon. I suppose even if he isn’t I’ll probably hold on to his shoes for him. In the meantime, one of our friends is bound for Sioux City, another for Gillette next week and Jeff will get his shoes. All by the grace of God. Certainly has nothing to do with us. We just show up and the rest belongs to Him.

And my friend ERG is one brilliant individual. And I love him.

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

Go out and make a difference.

…it matters to that one… :)

Are you Christian?

"No. I’m Nick".

I swear that conversation happened today. Poor Nick thought the guy was asking him if he was his brother. Nope. Just good old Nick. The fellow asking the question was someone I met today for the first time. Michael. Now Michael was in a pretty bad state. Obviously he had been drinking quite heavily. I never even saw him until we were wrapping things up this afternoon. And I have to be honest, lots of times when I’m approached by a guy who has obviously had too much to drink, especially in the park on Sunday, I probably get a little standoffish. I don’t really mean to, it’s just so difficult to have any kind of meaningful conversation with a guy when he’s in that state. So I had a very brief conversation with Michael and was on to loading the trailer and getting things wrapped up. Things to do and places to be…or so I thought. Someone Else had a different idea. So then I see Michael talking to Robin. Don’t know the crux of that conversation, just that they were having one. And then I see him bent down talking to Nick. So I gently insert myself into that conversation. So he was asking Nick if he was Christian. And after a bit of confusion, Nick cleared the air for Michael. Told him "oh yeah, I’m A Christian. I’m just not my brother". And then Michael and I started talking. And he started crying. And the pain in his eyes was immense. The hurt was so evident. And he was really loaded. So I asked him if I could take him to detox. He said he wanted to change. You could tell he wanted it. He just wasn’t ready for it. Have to be ready to make that happen. So he declined my offer to take him. I was so ready to take him right then and there.

So he seemed to be enamored by Nick. I mean, who isn’t? The kid is just pretty genuine. I know I’m biased, but what can I say? So Nick, Michael and me were at the back of the van in a conversation and Michael told me how his boys, Jeremiah and Matthew were killed in a car wreck almost 20 years ago. The pain was so real as he spoke. It was so intense. He told me of the car wreck that took the lives of his boys. I asked him a couple of hard questions. He mentioned, as lots of us do, that his boys were in heaven. So my question was would they really look down and appreciate what was happening to their father? I wasn’t trying to be harsh, but I see so many guys down there that have such severe addictions and I’m just getting to the point that I want to be a little more bold and maybe a little more blunt. So he cried a little harder and said he didn’t think so. Me either. I just think this is yet another way that a guy ends up in this situation. I mean I can’t imagine losing my family in that way. And to be there when it happened. He said he wasn’t driving. A buddy was, but apparently Michael was in the car. So he saw his boys lose their life…

He came over to me a few minutes later, after talking to Nick again I believe and told me something. I couldn't understand him at first and then he said it again. He said to play football with my son. I smiled, because it’s something I don’t do enough. To take time for the simple things. Because they can be taken from us in the blink of an eye. And he spent a few minutes giving the Nickster a bit of unsolicited advice. Pointed to me and told Nick to always do what I told him. Hey, this is good stuff! Told him that it’s important to always do what your dad tells you and to listen to everything he says. Michael’s kids were taken from him for unknown reasons. That’s always a tough one because there are always more questions than answers. Something similar happened to me 10 years ago. My oldest sister was taken from us and she hadn’t even quite reached 40. Why? No answers….

So as we left, Michael, who we’d never met before today, told us he loved us. We told him the same. That’s how it works. Or it should be how it works anyway. I saw a window sticker on the back of a great friend’s car recently. It simply said Love Wins. I believe it. I saw it in Michael’s eyes today. Through the hurt and intense pain, I saw a glimmer of love. It’s in there. We just have to be there to see it, to nurture it, to share it. I hope I see Michael again next week. I pray that I do. I’d love to talk with him some more. I’d love to love him just a little more. I’d love to see Nick throw a little love his way…

One last thing. We had a chance this morning to speak to a small gathering of people at River of Life church here in Omaha. It was a good chance for me to dig back and remember why God has us on this journey. Logistically, it was a little tough, but we made it work and got downtown right at our normal time. River of Life is a missional church and I believe that the goal for us being there was to share what happens and what can happen if we are willing to take a step out in faith and see what amazing things God will do with us when we do. It was an opportunity to share with a group of people that there doesn’t have to be a bunch of meetings, a ton of planning, the formation of a board to oversee or any of that stuff. There simply has to be a willingness to obey and step out and follow. And when we do, the results can be fairly spectacular. We spent about 45 minutes sharing the story of how God is using us in the downtown community. It was probably the fastest 45 minutes ever for Robin and me. We could have gone on for hours. Hopefully, our words were His words and they conveyed the message. The message that God will use us wherever we are if we are simply willing to listen and go. And maybe go loudly. Because that works too. :)

Michael quoted Romans 5:8 to me several times. I’ll end with that, as it speaks profoundly to God’s unconditional love and grace…

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

Go out and make a difference.

…it matters to that one… :)

Urban Nomads

Today was a pretty typical day for us. Lots of clothing, lots of fellowship and a couple hundred or so meals in the park. We were gone last week at a family reunion so we had lots of folks telling us it was good to have us back. We are so appreciative of the people that help out so often. Last weekend some of our friends from Coram Deo church here in Omaha took care of getting a meal to our friends downtown. Their generosity allowed us to do our annual family gathering in Iowa without having to worry about our friends in the homeless community downtown. So it was nice to be away for a weekend, but equally nice to be back today. Pretty calm day downtown. The weather was great, the food was good, and everyone seemed to be in pretty good spirits. We even had a fellow jamming on an acoustic guitar and a harmonica. Said he might dig back into the memory banks and work up some Christian songs for us. I said just come back and play.

Most of the usual suspects were there today. One thing that happened for me and I believe this was a first for us, was a fellow we thought had left and moved on to another part of the country was back. Turns out he never left. I was a little discouraged to see him at first. He asked us a while back if we could help him out. We tried our best to get him a ticket out of Omaha. Apparently he didn’t make the bus. He says he’s still going. It was just a bit disappointing to see him today. I mean, I want to see all of our friends each week. But if we don’t then maybe that means things are going well. Obviously, at times it means things aren’t going so well. In this fellow’s case, it was, according to him, the latter. He’s still going to try to get there, and I have hopes that he’ll reach his destination, but he seems to be in a state of mind that might not allow him to get there. We’ll see…

So a couple of our friends were missing in action today. Frank and Bill were laying low. According to another friend they weren’t feeling up to it. For some reason, it always bothers me when I don’t see those two. They are pretty inseparable, so you almost always see them together or not at all. Today? Not at all. Apparently Frank is camping. Under a bridge. In downtown Omaha. According to his friend, he needed a blanket. We didn’t have any today. I did have a couple of sleeping bags, just not with me. So I made arrangements to meet with Frank on Monday after work. So we get home and I throw a sleeping bag in my car so I wouldn’t forget it on Monday. I had to head down in that general vicinity later on Sunday, so I decided to take a chance and see exactly where my friend was “living” these days. I found a parking lot just above where I thought he was hanging out, and took off to find him. I looked in a couple of different areas and saw someone a little ways off. I couldn’t tell if he was sleeping or passed out, because from my perspective, he looked a bit slumped over. I yelled out his name and he looked up. He wasn’t sure who I was from a distance, but when I yelled and told him who it was, he welcomed me into his camp area. Good thing, because I was going in anyway. :) So this was it. A couple of blankets rolled out on the ground, a pillow, a loaf of smuggled bread from our earlier lunch, a few books, a pouch of tobacco and some rolling papers. This was home. I think Frank was happy to see me, but I had mixed feelings. It’s so hard on the one hand to try and make a guy comfortable in these surroundings. I don’t want to come across as encouraging. And then I realize how absolutely ridiculous my feelings are in these situations. This guy is going to do what he does. Told me as much today. It’s what we do Dave, he says. So we head back to my car to get the sleeping bag. On the way we have a chance for small talk. It was on the walk back that he told me about Urban Nomads. I mean, I’ve heard the phrase before, but being here in his “home” made it seem a little more real. These guys really do live life in a seriously nomadic way. I can’t imagine.

Once back at my car, I gave him the sleeping bag, but I was also able to share a little of the Gospel with him. It was a great opportunity to share a little with him about my faith. The thing I felt compelled to share with him is that even if this is his lot in life, then so be it. I really don’t think it has to be this way for him, but that’s me. I asked him if he ever reads. The Bible? He said that he was flying a sign a while back and a fellow had given him a nice leather Bible. But do you read it? I tried to share a few things that might help him if he were to decide to actually open it up. I just really felt compelled to spend a few minutes with him, one on one and just share a little of what I’ve learned over the years. We spoke about his Mom, who passed away when he was 2 years old. He cried when he told me he has no memory of his Mother. It was just nice to be able to share a few minutes away from the normal craziness that Sunday brings on our downtown corner. And here we were in his "house" talking about Jesus Christ. Who woulda thunk it?

Anyway, it turned out to be a great day. I pray for Frank and his safety. The one thing he told me is the next time I approach a camp like his I need to know how to approach it correctly. There is a proper way. I suppose a guy could get himself in a little trouble just bounding into someone’s camp. The correct way to approach? You gotta know the pass phrase - Hail to the camp! Hail to the camp? Are you kidding me? How about Hail to the King? That’s what it should be! Maybe I can work that in and get the fellows to use that one! :)

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many."Matthew 20:28, NLT

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

Go out and make a difference.

…it matters to that one… :)

Ramblings from Dave and Robin’s Closet

The past few weeks for us have been rather eventful, at least from my perspective. Just a little over a month ago, my father left us. The following few weeks were full of busyness, and it seems as though we haven’t been downtown to see and serve our friends much lately. In fact, for me, I went from being there every week for what seemed like forever, especially through the winter, to missing 3 of the last 6 weeks. We had it all covered from a logistical standpoint, but it sure seems like I’ve been missing out the last few weeks. Three weeks ago we were on a bit of a vacation. Got to spend some great time with our friends and church family in Charlotte after spending a few days in Alabama seeing a niece graduate from high school and spending time with my sister. Then this past weekend, we spent time in Iowa with family. We were there to celebrate the 50th anniversary of my uncle’s ordination and to also celebrate the lives of two uncles who passed away recently. But we were also there to simply celebrate our family. It is always a great time for me to be able to be with our family, wherever they may be. Charlotte, Alabama, Omaha, Iowa. Wherever. Time has a way of getting by us quickly. I saw that this weekend. I saw aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters who are aging maybe a little more quickly than I’d like to admit. I had the opportunity to play a few songs with my cousin Mike, a fantastic percussionist, at a memorial mass for 2 of my uncles. It was simply a very nice weekend.

Last year on our way home from this very same weekend reunion, we were able to visit a dear friend of ours in Des Moines. He’s a fellow we know from our downtown activities. He lived in Omaha and he now lives in Des Moines and I’m afraid he’s battling the flooding there like so many others in the state of Iowa. It was amazing to me to drive through the state over the past couple of days and see the damage that water is doing to the livelihood of so many. There are lakes and ponds where they didn’t exist before. I haven’t heard from our friend in a few days. I pray that he is safe and that the waters haven’t taken all his belongings. We weren’t able to visit this time. Hopefully we’ll hear from him soon and find that he is indeed ok.

So with us having exhausted our time off for the summer, I guess its time to refocus our energies and efforts. For me anyway. Robin always seems to have good focus. I was reading a devotional this week and it mentioned those set apart for God’s work and the principle of two. It posed the following question. Whose name is mentioned with yours? So I look back and for the last 17 or 18 years, that would be Robin. Dave and Robin. Robin and Dave. So I’m very blessed to be mentioned with my wife. She is my rock. For the past few weeks, she’s really helped me keep everything together. Actually for the past 17 or 18 years. And now the summer is upon us. I had a fellow call me last week. Keith. He wanted to know if we’d hang on to his coat until next winter. Are we really already planning for next winter? He said it was a really nice coat, we got it for him and he had no place to store it for the winter. No closets for that sort of thing at the shelter. So he brought it last week, we took it home, washed it and bagged it up for him for next winter. Along with a few hats, a scarf and gloves. Doesn’t seem possible that we would even be thinking about something like that, but here we are. So Robin washed it and I bagged it up last night. We’ll hang on to it for him. We’ll be Keith’s closet for the next few months. If you saw my garage, you’d think we are the closet for a lot of our friends.

I had the opportunity yesterday to visit with a cousin of mine whom I hadn’t seen in years. She needed a ride to Omaha and I had an empty seat. We talked about her activities with female inmates in Dallas and our activities here in Omaha. I mentioned the needs we are faced with each week. The needs for basic, daily things that lots of us take for granted. Clothing, food, hygiene items. And the fact that I’m constantly trying to not get caught up in the “stuff”. And the fact that, in her words, this is basic, utilitarian stuff. Stuff we all need to simply get through the day. Stuff we all have in out closets, bathrooms, kitchens, etc. Things our friends need and don’t have. So yeah, we’ll be Keith’s closet for a few months. Dave and Robin’s closet. That’s what we’ll call it. Or how about God’s Closet. Because it’s all from Him anyway. Without Him, none of it is possible.

So we didn’t get downtown to serve yesterday. Another group of friends took care of it for us. But beginning next week, we are back at it…full force. Taking the closet with us every week. Whatever God provides. I’m sure it’ll be an interesting summer. Every Sunday seems to be. No doubt. Time to get busy again. Thank God…

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

Go out and make a difference.

…it matters to that one… :)

You're Welcome...

So Sunday we woke up to news of a tornado here in Omaha. I have to tell you I never take the weather warnings nearly as serious as I should, but fortunately Robin does. She is what I'd call a weather junkie. At the first sign of any serious weather activity anywhere within a 200 mile radius of Omaha, she's on the job and making sure we are kept abreast of the seriousness of the matter. It is all good. The problem for me, especially here in the Midwest is that we just never know when serious weather might happen upon us. And the "meteorologists" cry wolf so often that it becomes more and more difficult to put stock in what they say. Just doing their job, but its tough when it goes "just south of us" time after time. So when we woke up Sunday morning to news of an EF-2 tornado just a few miles up the road from where we live, it got my attention. The newspaper this morning called it a "stealth tornado". And that's the problem…they just don't know when these things are going to touch down and wreak havoc. And it did wreak a bit of havoc in a neighborhood a few miles west of us. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. So along with that kind of weather comes rain…usually lots of rain. And hail. We got back into town this past Wednesday from a great visit with some great friends and we were greeted with tornado sirens that evening. And rain. Lots of it. And I believe it has rained off and on since that day. And if you look in the farm fields around the area, standing water is everywhere. But the funniest thing happens for us on Sundays. We have a running joke, but it's not really a joke at all. And I probably shouldn't say anything, lest I jinx it, but I don't think that's how God operates. Like our friend Mike said the other evening, I believe God has a pretty wicked sense of humor at times, but I don't believe luck or jinxes come into play. So Sunday morning, it looked like it might just rain on us off and on throughout the day. Didn't happen. Some of our friends downtown know that it doesn't rain on that corner between noon and two-ish. We make jokes about it, but it just doesn't happen. It is so amazing to me to be able to say that with confidence. And our friends know it also. And one of them even mentioned to Robin he knew why. "It's because you guys pray that it won't rain on us", he said. So once again, we got in and got out within a couple hour window and had no rain. God is so faithful.

Sunday was pretty much a normal Sunday for us. Not much drama from my perspective. If you call hanging out with our friends on a downtown street corner for a couple of hours, praying, eating, fellowshipping, etc, drama-less. :) I sometimes take for granted what God is doing on that corner. Especially when we get to do it week after week. Take yesterday for instance. I spent probably 15 minutes listening to a fellow named Larry, whom I'd never met before, speak from the heart about his faith. Quoting various scriptures, talking about his brother leading him to Christ, and just sort of rambling on. And all I had to do was listen. And it wasn't like I was not engaged, but I just didn't have to say much. I find so often that some of our friends seemingly just want someone to listen to them. I imagine they get lots of people telling them what they ought ot be doing. And I'm sure lots of that is probably justified. But sometimes we probably just need to be better listeners. Lots of our friends have lots to say. Trust me. And Larry gets it. He seems to be trying to find his way. Said he wasn't much of a drinker, but was jut having a rough time. But his attitude was good. And just before that conversation, I was talking briefly with a young lady whose name escaped me. It is so hard to remember all the names. I've known her for a while now, but I simply cannot remember her name. But she remembered mine. And came to me to thank me for what we do. We get that constantly. Thanks for the meal. Thanks for the clothing. Thanks. And they probably get sick of hearing me correct them. Because I always make sure they know where it comes from. Not from us. From Him. Every single thing we do is from, by and of Him. So when she sought me out yesterday to thank me for coming every week, I first told her to forget about me, and to give all the thanks and glory to God. He's the one that she should be thanking. And she knew that. And said as much. But she wanted to thank us for being faithful. Every week. And she mentioned it through tears. And said that she found out recently that she might have throat cancer. And in what was becoming more and more emtional, she thanked me several times for coming every week. And she just kept on with the thanks for all we do. And I just told her she was welcome. Everyone is welcome. We've been so blessed to be able to do this thing week after week. Always beign able to provide for mostly anyone who shows up. With at least a good, hot meal and perhaps a pair of clean socks, or a blanket, or whatever. So when she thanked me for what seemed like the 100th time, I just hugged her and told her she was very welcome. Because that's how it works. At God's table, everyone is welcome. We even have a fellow whose name is Yusef who has been showing up on our corner for a few months now. Obviously Muslim. And yesterday? He was helping me empty trash cans and running bags of trash down the alley to the dumpster. Who knows where that will go. But he's welcome. All are welcome.

We put together a video clip last year. It's a video montage of some of our friends downtown on a fall Sunday. The song that we used for the background music is a song by Phillips, Craig and Dean. The Table of Grace. They lyrics are so perfect for what God is doing on that crazy downtown corner. Speaks of the cup never being empty. The plate always being full. Never too late. You're always welcome. At the Table of Grace. And amazingly enough, that always seems to be the case. We are blessed to be able to offer a little bit of His love. In the aftermath of a tornado. In the middle of life's storms. And lots of the folks we hang out with on Sundays are in the middle of some nasty storms. And we can't do a whole lot to help sometimes. But we can offer a couple hours of love. And to anyone who comes, be it someone to help serve or someone in need, you are welcome. Always.

A million other things happened Sunday. This is just a brief glimpse through my eyes and, unfortunately, through my poor memory. I could go on and on and sometime I'm sure I do. But I'm simply thatnkful that God lets us do this week in and week out. That we could be a small part of His Kingdom work. We are blessed and I'm so thankful that our friends welcome us into their world for a brief time each and every week. So when someone tells me thanks? I should be the one thanking them….

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

Go out and make a difference.

…it matters to that one… :)