Endings...or a New Season?

Our Last Full Sunday
I have no idea where to even begin today. It was a day I wasn’t really sure would ever come. Especially not this soon. If 3 years is soon, then this was just short of that. And what an incredible run it’s been. Nearly 3 years of meals, socks, boots, shoes, clothing, you name it, we took it down. Some of the requests we’ve had over that time were pretty comical. I guess you have to ask. But the bottom line is, God supplied every single thing we needed to keep going. Every single thing. And more importantly, he supplied his undeniable and unbelievable Love. If I can speak for my family, and I usually do, we have been so incredibly blessed to have had this opportunity. It is my prayer that if we accomplished nothing else, I pray that our friends saw the hands and feet of our Savior on that corner each week. His Skin. That through us, they were able to witness what it looks like to serve an Awesome God. Because as much as they thought we were serving them? They were mostly wrong. We were absolutely serving an Indescribable God and they were just the blessed and fortunate ones on the receiving end. Stay with me this week. Got lots to mention…
　
Tireless Efforts of Those Who Helped
This is where I thank all of those that have been so incredibly faithful to His mission on that corner. Those who spent countless hours preparing meals. Standing in the ridiculous, frozen, downtown wind tunnel all those winter days, serving the most awesome soup in Omaha. But is wasn’t just soup. It was a chance for anyone who wanted to help in any way to come and do just that. There were no real rules. Just make sure that if you are cooking, that it would be something that you would prepare for the best of your friends. Because it needed to be fit for a king. For THE King. And we had so many people step up to the plate in so many ways. I’d love to be able to mention each and every one of them by name, but there is just no way I could pull that off. God sent too many to mention. He’s good like that. It’s His world and He’s pretty darn good at running it. So to all of those who contributed in any way, shape or form? Our hat is off to you. So many people wanted to look to Robin and I as the reason this thing worked as well as it did. But obviously it worked as well as it did because of the tireless efforts of each and every person who spent so many Sundays serving a great God in so many amazing ways. We simply say thank you.
　
Wade’s Family
Almost exactly one year ago, we lost a very good friend entirely too early. Senseless is the first word that usually comes to mind when I think of Wade’s death. No answers. None. And we’ll have to wait until that final day to know the answers to these kinds of questions. That much I know. But I’m a guy who wants answers. Now. Ain’t happening. So today, a few very special people once again drove several hours to honor one of their own. From Kansas. From outstate Nebraska. From Kansas City, Missouri. To honor a fellow that left us too soon. Again, this is a deal that I’ve written about so many times. Google "Wade Sechtem" and several of the first entries you come across are related to our downtown activities and his way too early departure. So when a couple of his family members found out that this was going to be our last full Sunday on that corner, they decided to join us. I’m so thankful. Because we are forever connected now. When we first started this thing, I’d always ask my self the question. Where are the families? These guys must have families. Where are they? I’ve met one family and God has done amazing things with this situation. And usually? The families are at their loving wits end. I’d guess in so many cases, they’d do absolutely anything in their power to change these situations. But a guy has to want to change. If he doesn’t and the substance abuse, alcohol or whatever wins out, then the families are usually left holding the proverbial bag. You can only do so much. But if the situation turns for the worse, as this one did, then maybe we can’t change the situation, but we can certainly use it for good. And let me tell you, this family has done just that. Huge Christmas bags jammed with gifts for our friends. Easter bags. Donations of all types. Amazing stuff. And last week I got an email from Kansas City. Seems a young lady there who also happens to be an attorney and has wanted to "create a homeless shelter since I was 12", has now been instrumental in helping the homeless in a tangible way that blew my mind. I have to quote her here and I hope its ok. From ‘A’ – "Bottom line is that I wanted you to know how your ministry allowed God to speak to my heart so that I could help others. Because of the example you have set, hundreds of homeless people in KC have received legal and housing assistance." I am overwhelmed with emotion each time I read that email. Absolutely overwhelmed. Hundreds of people in Kansas City? Are you kidding me? Because God blessed us with a pot of soup and about 10 or 15 homeless guys on a street corner in downtown Omaha on a typical November day in 2006? Seriously? Overwhelmed...
　
Keith’s Words of Wisdom
Robin was talking to one of our friends today, and he said something that definitely warrants mentioning. Because it speaks to the relationships that have been developed. At least I hope it does. Several of the guys that we first met on that corner told us a long time ago that we’d get overrun on that corner. We told them we didn’t think so, because we had help from a pretty high source. They’d just have to hang with us and they’d see. After the past few weeks, they might have had a point. At least somewhat. Because honestly, we have felt a little overrun the past few months or so. Just so many people and so many needs, it has been hard to keep up. But no matter how much controlled chaos we’ve seen, not matter how much the numbers have increased over the past few months, we are reminded just why God sent us in the first place. One fellow reminded us of that today. Said that when we first came down, he thought we were just do-gooders. And then after a while, he thought maybe we were just good people. And now? He thinks we are good friends. His words. Again, overwhelming.
　
Bill’s Tears
And I have to share this. A fellow made a promise to Robin and I last week. He promised Robin he wouldn’t share the news that today would be our last Sunday. And he promised me that he’d show up today. Sober. Well, he was 2 for 3 in the promise department. He did keep his word to Robin. Didn’t tell even his closest buddy. Although he did tease him with the fact that he had a secret. And the promises he made to me? Well, he did show up today. So by process of elimination, you know which promise he didn’t keep. And that’s ok. I’m just glad he showed up. And he was extremely emotional. With our first embrace, the tears were flowing. It was tough. I tried to convince him that we’d still be around, but he is convinced that he’s leaving town. I absolutely love this guy. Deep, heartfelt love. You just can’t put that into words and do it justice. But he knows it and I know that it’s reciprocated. No doubt. With every hug he got from my beautiful little Erin, the tears flowed. With every hug and handshake we shared, and there were many, the tears flowed. I’ll never forget the hurt in his eyes as we said our final goodbyes today. Never. My heart aches for him because I worry that I may never hear from him again. He has my number and our address memorized. So I pray that I’ll hear from him. At least a call to tell me he’s ok. I love my man Bill.
　
Fried Chicken and Running out of Plates and Everything Else
This morning when we were getting everything ready to go, we had a couple of last minute things to pick up from WalMart. So I made the trek with a shopping list from my boss. :) Needed a couple of extra boxes of forks. A few other minor things. And plates for a few hundred. Oh, and 500 pieces of fried chicken. I heard "plates for 300". She said 3 packages of plates. Well, me in all my wisdom, and just as I’d pointed out to her last week, I felt the need to tell her that we’ve never used more than 300 plates on a Sunday. So I came back with 300 plates. Guess what we ran out of first today? Yep. Plates. And we even had about 25 take home cartons that people were cutting in half to make last longer. And we ran out of those too. And then it was fried chicken on napkins while Mike and I made a quick trek to a food mart for more plates. We absolutely ran out of everything today. That has never happened before. I mean everyone got something to eat, but man was that crowd huge today. I have to say it here. Robin was right and I was so wrong! :)
　
Dad’s Clothing and The Office…Revisited
A couple of final things here. I could go on and on of course, but I’ll try to finish up here with these final thoughts. I mentioned a few weeks ago that my sister had sent a couple of boxes of my Dad’s clothing up with her sons, who were here visiting for a few days. Well, yesterday as I was doing my clothing sorting for what was probably the final time, I finally was able to put my Dad’s stuff in the clothing bins. Just seems appropriate in some strange way to know that on our last Sunday, my Dad made one final contribution. He’d made a few contributions along the way, but this was different. This was his stuff. He died in May of 2008, and here we were finally getting around to donating his stuff. Funny, that.
　
And finally, one of the last things I did today was visit The Office. That place in the middle of the park where we met our friends that very first Sunday. That place where our friends used to do some of their "work". It’s nothing more than a 20 by 20 square foot area with waist high concrete walls. Used to have benches where all sorts of shenanigans took place. It’s mostly quiet these days, but several of the guys were there, so Bill and I walked over and hung out for a few minutes, one last time. Even happened to get a call from another fellow we met on that corner that very first Sunday, as we were sitting on the wall in The Office. Coincidence? I tend to think not. I don’t believe much in coincidences. Which is why I’m so convinced that God wanted us there in that park for almost 3 years. That He definitely had a plan. I pray that we are doing the right thing here. That He has something on deck for us. That whatever is next will be as thrilling, exciting, and as honoring and glorifying to Him as I pray that this was. I pray that we followed His direction as best we could and that the work we did on that corner was indeed pleasing to Him. I pray that in the end, He will indeed say…" 'Well done, good and faithful servant!"
　
What an amazing opportunity this has been to serve alongside my beautiful wife and those 3 kids God has so undeservedly entrusted to me. What an amazing ministry. What an amazing God we serve!
　
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ~ Matthew 11:28
　
Peace, have a great and blessed week and whatever you do, make a difference.
　
…it matters to that one… :)

Promises

What an unbelievable run of weather we’ve been blessed with lately. Highs in the 70s and low 80s. Overnight lows in the low 50s. And were smack in the middle of July. Usually it’s in the high 90s this time of year. Just crazy. And one thing this kind of weather does for us is it makes things a little more tame, a little more sane, a little more tolerable overall on our downtown street corner. People are just in a better mood overall when they are not being beat down by the unconscionable and sweltering heat that can be so prevalent this time of year here in the Midwest. Today was a perfect example of that. A true Chamber of Commerce day in downtown Omaha. And people were just in general good moods overall. It was indeed a good day to be on God’s time.
　
One fellow told me he was going to call a friend of his a get me a bullhorn. Seems the guys waiting in line all the way down in the Old Market can’t quite hear when we are praying. Now he was being facetious, because the Old Market is a few blocks away, but he wasn’t far off the mark. I simply cannot believe how long this line stretches anymore. But God blessed us with two serving lines recently, so that’s helped in the actual serving. Doesn’t help when a guy can’t hear when we are praying, but it does help us when we are trying to get everyone through the line in as quickly as possible.
　
Speaking of the long line, I was working my way through the line and a lady stopped me. Needed to talk to me. Usually that means a person needs something. I have to be real honest. There are so many people anymore that when someone says they need to speak to me, it makes me cringe a little. Not knowing what the need might actually be. Bus ticket? Shoes? Rent help? Clothing? So when she said she needed to talk to me, I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive. And then when I got to her spot in line, she was ready to talk. And she didn’t need anything. Nothing. She said the following to me – "Dave, remember when we prayed for us to get a place of our own? Well we got a place of our own!" And this was a couple I hadn’t seen in a long time. And she remembered our prayer. And then it came back to me. We’d prayed together a long time ago. When we were meeting at our old corner. A block away. Under the trees. And I vaguely remember the time we prayed together. And like I said, I hadn’t seen them in a while, so it was taxing on my memory to think back. But I remembered. And she was so happy to be in her own place. Who wouldn’t be? I’m pretty sure she was praying on her own also. But she seemed to think that because we prayed together that one day so long ago, that it made a difference. It’s so humbling when people mention these things to me. It is so awesome to know that we serve a God who hears our prayers in such a way. So amazing. I believe that is one of His promises to us. That if we seek Him in His Son’s Name, that he will indeed hear our prayer.
　
I saw another fellow in the line and he asked me to keep his wife in my prayers. I try to have a morning list of things and people that I pray for. But it gets tough sometimes remembering all the names and things people have asked us to pray about. My memory just ain’t that good these days. So I usually just say, as I did to this fellow, let’s do it now. His wife is bedridden with cancer. He knew me. Said he thought about me this morning. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen him before? But I must have? And as we prayed, it dawned on me as to how I always struggle with these ones. To know what God’s will is in these situations. Is it healing? Or what. Big struggle for me to know. And he broke in during our prayer and simply asked God to look out for her. Yep. That’s it. Just look out for her God. So we prayed, and parted ways. I didn’t see him before he left, but I pray that God does indeed watch over her. I know He will. Again, a promise.
　
One final thing. There’s a fellow I’ve known for almost 3 years now from our downtown activities. I really think, if it wasn’t for the fact that we live such vastly different lives, at least on the surface, that we could be really good friends. I mean we are good friends, but we live in such different worlds. Again, at least on the surface. But deep inside, we are so much alike. Struggling with worldly issues. Forces beyond the grasp of either of us. And I love this guy. Sincerely. And today, I asked him for something. A promise. And unbeknownst to me, he’d just made a promise to Robin. My request? Simple. Just show up next week. Promise me you’ll be here next week. Sober. And he has always been a guy to say he couldn’t make promises. His life just does not lend to reliability and promises. Just not how he rolls. We have a weekly standing appointment. In pencil. He literally never makes it. But it’s still on my calendar. So to ask for a promise, well that’s a tough one. And to add to the level of complexion the task of staying sober? Well we shall see what exactly happens next Sunday. Because the promise that Robin asked him to keep pretty much requires that he be there and be sober. But it wasn’t so much the promise that she asked him to make and keep as much as it was the information that the promise was based upon. She shared something with him that will impact our lives in a huge way. And she wanted him to know. Because he keeps talking about leaving town. He’s talked about leaving before. But I think this time he means it. And we want to make sure that we see him once more before he leaves. I pray the he’s there next Sunday. I pray that he keeps his promises. Definitely to Robin. And definitely to me.
　
God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message. ~ Colossians 1:27 The Message
　
Peace, have a great and blessed week and make a difference.
　
…it matters to that one… :)

God’s Sense of Humor

I’ve heard it said before that God does indeed have a sense of humor. That was pretty evident for us today. In many ways. Robin was cooking this morning (spaghetti for the masses) and at several points I looked at her incredulously. Who is this person in my wife’s body? Has she really forgotten all those things she learned about cooking for this many people? When the spice bottle did a swan dive out of the kitchen cabinet and splattered spaghetti sauce all over her pretty pink shirt? Yeah, that was a minor thing. When the spaghetti strainer with enough cooked spaghetti to feed half of Omaha fell from her grasp and I watched it fall to the floor in slow motion, only steps away but totally helpless? This turned out to be a minor thing also, but could have been a bit of a catastrophe, considering we didn’t have time to re-cook a new batch of spaghetti. Turned out ok though and we had a pretty good laugh. But that certainly wasn’t the end of our morning/afternoon antics. Definitely more to come.
　
So as we are gearing up to head downtown, with maybe a half an hour or so between us and a couple hundred of our hungry friends, well, that’s when we first noticed the nasty, ominous looking clouds that were hanging over our neighborhood and off to the east. Which is precisely the direction we are heading to hang out and have lunch with our friends. We check weather.com, which proved to be fairly worthless in hindsight. 20% chance of rain between noon and 2:00 p.m. Only problem is weather.com doesn’t run the universe. Those great folks there, in all their weather wisdom, really have no clue what is going to happen at any given time. We all know that. Yet we type that web address in, do our little search for our city and take what they say as gospel. Bad idea today. So we get downtown and get all set up, pray and start serving. Within minutes, God’s real sense of humor becomes very apparent. We’d probably been serving for about 10 minutes when it began. Now remember, this is us, me and Robin who are always bragging on God and how he never lets the rain happen between noon and 2 on Sundays. We’ve had one other Sunday recently where we had a bit of a nuisance rain. Nothing earth shattering, but just enough to let us know that He’s there. We’ve always been amazed at how we’ve been able to dodge the bullet for so long. Or in this case, dodge the raindrops. And in today’s case, the BIG raindrops. So I was standing there talking to my buddy Billy and it began. First you could see the spots on the sidewalk. And you’d feel a drop or two every few seconds. And then? Well then the deluge began. We’re scrambling to get things back in the trailer. I’m standing in water up to my ankles next to the curb. It’s just one of those surreal sort of feelings. We knew everything would dry out, but man what a mess. And oh, hey weather.com? Thanks. You guys are real good at what you do. :) We just had to laugh.
　
And more importantly, what were we going to do about all the food we’d brought down. We had enough food to feed probably 250 people. And people were scattering all over the place. It would have been real easy at that point to simply load up and head west. But then His sense of humor went to another level. We were standing there in the pouring rain and it was raining hard. Hard enough, in fact, off the bill of my hat alone to fill a small stream. Crazy rain. I joked that we should have started handing out soap and shampoo right then and there to maybe help some of our friends. It was a joke. Sort of. And then the sun made an appearance. During the rainstorm. And slowly, the rain began to let up. You could see our friends, who had taken shelter in doorways of downtown buildings all around the block, begin to make their way back to our corner. His corner. Robin had already come to the back of the trailer asking for a couple of tables and some of the buckets that contained the serving utensils. We were back in business and fortunately our friends were still hanging out. In fact, several of them commented about us still being there. They couldn’t believe we didn’t leave when the heavens opened up. Where were we going to go? I believe God was just letting us know that He’s still in charge. We’d bragged for a long time about how it never rains down there. And guess Who got the last laugh. But we hung in there and He took care of us. And it turned out to be a beautiful day. Soggy and crazy and all that stuff, but after the rains let up He blessed us with an absolutely gorgeous afternoon. We were able to pass out bucketfuls of socks, clothing, sheets, towels, kid’s toys and stuffed animals, bags and bags of Panera bread, enough ‘meals to go’ to choke a herd of horses and lots of God’s unbelievable love. Not because of anything we did. But all because of His tremendous blessings and love. What a day! What a sopping, soggy day. But what a day! I’m pretty sure He was looking down today, chuckling at what must have looked like an overturned ant hill. But then He made it right. And it was indeed good. As it always is.
　
I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. Psalm 140:12
　
Peace, have a great and blessed week and make a difference.
　
…it matters to that one… :)

Fear

Today was one of those days that make me glad we do what we do on Sundays. Logistically, it was a minor challenge. Relationally, it was absolutely why God has us on a corner in downtown Omaha.
　
Logistically? This weekend was the annual Summer Arts Festival in downtown Omaha. It’s a nice festival with artists from all over, music, kids’ activities, and everything else one could imagine with a festival such as this one. The only problem it presents for us is the organizers don’t seem to know or care that we set up a family meal for a few hundred every Sunday on the very corner that is the entrance to the festival. So we improvise. We have a pretty good Director on our side, so improvisation isn’t such a big deal. So the plan today was to set up on our old corner. As we were about 5 minutes away from the downtown area, we got a call from someone who helps most weeks. She informed us that there was no place to park the van and trailer on our old corner. So she asked a police officer if we could park in front of some barricades that were being used to block 14 th St. They directed us to the corner of 13 th and Douglas St. So it was a bunch of improv for us in this weekly adventure, but we knew going in that would be the case. And it didn’t take us completely by surprise. One of the funny things that happened was the concerned calls we received from our friends downtown in the days leading up to Sunday. Robin answered the phone Saturday night to one of our friends telling us all about the fact that the festival was set up on our corner and what were we going to do? Wing it. That’s what. And we did.
　
Relationally? Well this is where it was good for me. In a strange way. I find myself more and more lately not being able to have meaningful conversation on that corner. Just too much chaos. Good chaos, but chaos nonetheless. So today, in a really weird way, in the middle of the logistical concerns, which really turned out to be no big deal, I was able to actually spend time with a couple of fellows that I’ve really come to appreciate very much over the past couple of years. The conversations weren’t extremely long or extremely deep. Or maybe they were a bit deep. On the one hand, I had a chance to talk to a guy we’ve known from the beginning. Shows up most every Sunday. Real, honest to goodness street guy. Whatever that means. But he’s lived a rough life. And lived a pretty agnostic life, if I’m not mistaken. But it seems that God has place a certain biker church in his path. Imagine that? God working in strange and humorous ways. Because this fellow is a fellow of conviction. You can see it in his eyes and you can hear it in his words. So he’s been telling us about this biker church for a while now. Just about 10 blocks straight west of where we meet on Sundays. Tells Robin and I that we have to visit this church some Sunday. And we just might. Because logistically, they meet at a time that would allow us t do it at least one Sunday a month. So today he mentioned that he’d just finished a long conversation with Robin. And she wasn’t happy with him. Now he and I both knew that she was simply unhappy with the way he was heading. As we are with lots of our friends. We can’t change them for sure. But we can let ‘em know what we think. And occasionally we do. So he’d just finished his talk with Robin and here I was going for round 2! I think both of us had the same bottom line for him. We just don’t want to see anything totally preventable happen to him. And he knows that. His comment to me was that it was going to happen to us all someday. I agreed. And as I shook hands with him and told him goodbye, I told him that before that happens he’d better be darn sure his heart was right with the Lord. He just looked at me and said "you had to go there, didn’t you?" Yep. Had to. And did. And I pray that he goes there.
　
And then I had the chance to sit on a wall in the shade and have a nice long conversation with one of my buddies. We talked about his life. His behavior. His dread and hate of his lifestyle. His anger and frustration at wanting to quit and not being able to. And his fear. He told me that for the last few months, he has been carrying around this fear. That something bad was on the horizon. That if he didn’t change things drastically, he’d really be in trouble. He reads his Bible pretty regularly. He believes. I know that. But he continually turns from God. As we probably all do in some way, shape or form. I tried to get that across to him. That we are all pretty busted. But God’s grace is so huge. And Robin has told him that he’s living in God’s extended grace. He knows what he needs to do. But he just doesn’t know how to get it done. This thing has been on his back for 37 years. Over 50 arrests in 8 years. 150 different charges. Most of them minor, open container, stuff like that. But lots of time lost. Never get that back. Today he was sober and very easy to talk with. That’s not always the case, but it was today. And I just pray that a seed was planted in his head that he can do it. With Christ, he absolutely can do it. Maybe the fear will push him to the point of finally doing something to begin the long uphill climb of change. We have a saying between us. The language isn’t nice. I’ve said it once to him. And frankly I think I shocked him when I said all those months ago. I don’t even have to use the language anymore. Once was enough. And every time I see him now I remind him of the road he’s on. It’s a %$#&*^ up road. He knows it and I know it. And God knows it. But he’ll rescue us from that road. I’m convinced of it. At times I wonder if some of these hardcore guys can ever change. I mean real, long term, mind and heart change. Put down the bottle forever change. We’ve not seen much success in the time we’ve been down there in that regard. We’ve definitely seen people change. Out of the shelters. Into apartments. Short term sobriety. But I don’t think we’ve seen one of our hardcore street friends get that massive gorilla off their back. Surely it can happen. Right? We see so many people, the odds are that it has to be possible. Right? I pray that is the case. And until we see it? We’ll keep fighting the fight. On whatever corner we end up on. With whomever will put on the gloves with us and go into the ring. I pray that the fear will be enough to make a difference for my buddy.
　
[The Lord speaking to Paul] "I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." ~Acts 26:18
　
Peace, have a great and blessed week and make a difference.
　
…it matters to that one… :)

2 Boxes on Father’s Day

Many times over the past few years, I’ve gotten a call or email from someone asking about giving us a donation. A clothing donation. And lots of times, it was because someone, a family member…a father, an uncle, a brother or a son left and wouldn’t be needing his clothing anymore. I always struggle with these ones. I remember the first time it happened like it was yesterday. Walking through someone’s apartment after he’d left. Gone. Never to be heard from again. It was just strange. A fellow from Union Pacific called me and asked me if we could use his father’s clothing. All of it. His dad was gone now and wouldn’t be needing it anymore. It is with real mixed emotions that I accept these calls and I really struggle with them. I mean, the stuff needs to go somewhere and we have a pretty good avenue to use the things people give us. But the other side is a family member is gone and it just seems so personal when you are talking about the clothing. I mean, I couldn’t begin to estimate the amount of clothing we’ve been blessed to be able to help out with over this time. The people we meet with weekly just have needs and it seems to be that one of the biggest needs is simple clothing and things of that nature. But when a person leaves this great big ball of dirt and those left behind are left to figure out what to do with the stuff? Well that’s a tough one.
　
I went through this to a degree last year. My father left us at the age of 75. Last May. His deal here was done. I’ve written about my dad a few different times. About our relationship, or lack of one for many years. But in the end, it was very good. I miss him today. Greatly. And ironically, this past week we had visitors here in Nebraska. Several of my nephews from Alabama came to visit. Part of the draw for them was the College World Series, which has been taking place here in Omaha for the past week or so and will conclude early next week. But part of the trip was just to get together with family and do what family does. But a funny thing happened. My sister packed a couple of boxes for the fellows to bring to Omaha. A couple of boxes that just happened to have clothing. From my father. For this ministry thing we do weekly. A donation. Now this is a tough one for me. The clothing was in the trunk of the car they drove to Omaha. My father’s old car. And some of his clothing was in the trunk in 2 boxes. I found out that they brought this stuff the day before Father’s Day. Fortunately I’d already completed sorting out the stuff for today when I found out about the boxes. I don’t know how I’m going to sort and distribute his stuff. I mean I realize it’s only stuff. But it was his stuff. My dad’s stuff. And I just don’t know what it’s going to be like to look through those boxes one year later and make an attempt to sort through it. I guess I’ll do what I have to do, but man…
　
So on this day, this day when we honor our earthly fathers, I’d like to take a moment to honor my father. He had a few warts. Don’t we all. He had his flaws. Don’t we all. But deep down, he was a good man. And I am so thankful and blessed that before he left us, he and I worked it all out. We had a great relationship in the end and I think that’s all we can hope for. I pray for other relationships that are not so good these days. I pray they will be good again. Somehow. Someday. And until that day, I am so thankful that on this day, this day when we honor Fathers, I can honestly hope and pray that my life in some way honors our heavenly Father. The One who is responsible for it all. The One Whom I rely on for so much. I can, in no way do justice here, but I can valiantly try. And that I will. And next week? I’ll try my best to go through dad’s stuff and do with it what I know he’d tell me to do with it. I can almost hear his voice now, in his southern drawl and his way with words, and the way he always called me David. Not Dave and certainly not Super Dave or anything else. It was always David. I can hear him telling me to give it away. He’d probably say "it ain’t much, but somebody can probably use it. Go on ahead and do whatever you want with it." Well dad, I’ll figure it out somehow. And God, can you help me figure it out? All this craziness here? All this homelessness, this neediness, this poverty, this substance abuse, this mental illness…the list goes on and on. God, can you help me figure it out? Can You help me to be the father You created me to be? So that in the end, my kids don’t have to pack my "stuff" up in boxes and try to figure out what to do with it all? 2 boxes? Man, that’s going to be a tough one.
　
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ~Hebrews 12:1
　
Peace, have a great and blessed week and make a difference.

…it matters to that one… :)

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… :)

Waiting

What a great day downtown today! We had a regular family picnic today. The great folks from St. James church came today and took it up a notch. Grills, burgers, hot dogs, potato salad. Man, it was quite the spread. It really was much like a family picnic. Friends, family, great food. All the ingredients for a great time. When I got up this morning, after listening to an all night storm, I was wondering if this might actually be the day that we get rained out. Completely. I mean, it rained and hailed all night. Hard. And at approximately 7:00 a.m. this morning, it was pouring. I knew of all the work St. James had put into getting this thing up and running today and was hoping we’d be alright. The rain let up a bit later and things seemed as if they’d be ok. They were. Mornings like this are nice for lots of reasons. All the people that normally help cook get a break. That would include my lovely wife. Things are just a little calmer in the Laney kitchen on the first Sunday of the month when St. James is doing the meal. And seeing as though the Book of James is one of my favorite books of the Bible, it’s just fitting that they step it up the way they do. And I swear today they kicked their game into a whole new gear. It is so unbelievably cool to see members of a church step out of their normal Sunday routine and get into something like this. It is most definitely a win-win for everyone involved. Our friends downtown were treated to a great meal of Omaha Steak’s burgers and dogs. Really good ones. The folks from St. James get an amazing opportunity to share, in action, their great faith. And we just have to show up with everything else. It’s just really cool to see them in action. They brought several gas grills and had them up and running with burgers and dogs coming off them so fast our friends couldn’t keep up! It was awesome. And this type of opportunity exists for anyone to get involved. I often hear people say they want to help. Today I saw it firsthand. Wow. I love serving in this community.
　
I’ve noticed for some time that our friends do a lot of waiting. Wait to get a bed at the shelter. Wait to get an appointment at wherever. Wait to get a computer at the library. Wait to get a meal. I mean, there’s a bit of that that’s going to happen. Goes with the territory. But one thing I’ve noticed the past few weeks is there’s a lot of waiting to eat at our regular Sunday gatherings. In some cases, I swear a guy has to wait 45 minutes to get a meal. Now I’m biased but even I don’t think the food is so good that it’s worth waiting for that long. And it’s not really like we are amateurs anymore at serving a meal. We’ve been at it long enough that we can get people through pretty quickly. But it just seems like people are waiting a lot. Too much. Last week I really noticed it. I schmoozed my way through the line and 40 minutes later, I see some of the same guys that haven’t eaten yet. Enough. This week? Two serving lines. Here’s the deal. I’ve been at the shelters and watched our friends wait for things I take for granted. If I want to go to bed? I go to bed. If some of our friends want to go to bed? At one particular shelter in town they have to wait on the back patio until they can be processed in. Like 5 at a time. Sometimes in below freezing weather. Outside, waiting for a bed. Let’s just say that dignity is not at the top of the list sometimes. So when I see our friends waiting yet again, it bothers me. Especially to get something as basic as a meal. On Sunday. So this week we split everything up and had 2 serving lines. It was so simple and I could kick myself for not doing it sooner. We may not have to do it every week. We literally got everyone through in half the time. Imagine that. They still had to wait. Just maybe not quite as long today and the wait was definitely worth it today.
　
One last thing. No really. This is it. But it’s a biggie. This week, one of our friends will have surgery to correct a cataract. Might sound like no big deal. And maybe to some it wouldn’t be. But to our friend it’s a big deal. And to us it's a big deal. A really big deal. To a fellow from a foreign country who is in our country, our city, living in a shelter, seemingly spinning his wheels in so many ways? I can’t imagine what it would be like to have to deal with that. I guess I mostly take my vision for granted. It’s there. I can see what I want to see. I open my eyes each morning and I can see pretty clearly. This fellow doesn’t necessarily have that luxury. But after Tuesday, things should be a bit better for him. By the Grace of God and a few generous donations, he should be in a different state later in the week. We usually agree to disagree that the blessings come from God. I mean he knows that, but just has maybe different views on some of these things. Whenever I tell him not to thank us for anything, he disagrees and says he must. For various reasons. So we agree to disagree. But it’s a good thing. We aren’t able to see eye to eye on some things, but we both get the big picture. He was in such good spirits today. The waiting for him is finally over. I can’t wait to hear how it goes for him. He once told me he was depending on us for something that was rally important to him. If he only knew how undependable I really am, he wouldn't be depending on me for anything. But as unworthy as I might be, I have hope in Christ. That’s all I need to know. I pray that things go well for him this week. Somehow I know they will.
　
Consider God's generosity towards you rather than your own unworthiness in His sight, and live in His strength, rather than in the thoughts of your own weakness. ~ St. Vincent de Paul
　
Peace, have a great and blessed week and make a difference.
　
…it matters to that one… :)