Yesterday morning, right before I left for work, I packed food for a picnic: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, strawberries, chips, and some sweets. I packed enough for Mike but haven’t seen him the last couple days and knew if he wasn’t there, Lee would end up having dinner to take with him, and it ended up working out that way.

In the afternoon, as I approached Lee, I saw that he was reading his book about Bill Clinton. He wanted to rise to give me his seat but struggled to get up, so I encouraged him to stay in the chair, and I sat on a blanket at his feet. I pulled out the food, piece by piece, and as I pulled out the marshmallow Peeps I had grabbed, I asked Lee, “Do you like Peeps?” He said, “I just saw Peeps in the store the other day and wanted them, but they were too expensive, so I didn’t get them, but I wanted them.” Then, he went on to explain how God loves his heart.

Recently, he had seen a bag of Kraft brand marshmallows in the liquor store and wanted them so badly but, again, couldn’t afford it. He must’ve walked passed them on three different occasions, desiring them in his heart, and walked away empty-handed. Then, one day, a woman walked up with an opened bag of Kraft marshmallows and handed it to him. He was overwhelmed. He saw how much God cared about him, so the Peeps spoke louder to his heart than any words ever could.

He started sharing about his relationship with God, how he didn’t think much about Him until thirteen years ago, when he became a Christian. Then, he went on to tell me how, in the past two years, he has learned more about God on the streets than he had the previous eleven years. He shared with me some of his understandings.

Lee talked about things in the bible I had never heard of. I listened. He has some different views. We started in Genesis. We’ll see where God takes this. Lee appreciated how I listened to him and didn’t argue. I have different views, but that doesn’t change being love for him, loving Him through the heart of Jesus. As I’m writing this, I think about how cold it is outside, how many sleep on the streets; I think about Lee, his age, his aches and pains, and then, I think about Emil, who was homeless when I met him, but now, he’s not. God’s always working, and I love watching Him do-His-thing.