Yesterday, pizza lunch was great with Lee and Mike. We were all starving. Since I’m not homeless, I probably should’ve eaten a little before as to not devour part of the pizza, but I didn’t, so I ate two slices. It was one of the best pizzas I’ve ever eaten. Next time, I’m ordering an extra large, so we can all be full. Lee dropped half of his second slice, so I picked it up and brushed it off. If it was me, I probably would’ve eaten it, but he set it aside for the squirrels and grabbed another slice. As we were eating, we were talking. Continue reading
friendship
“A Homeless Heart”
When they look at me, what do they see?
a lifetime lived
a career fallen behind?
When they look at me, what do they see?
a dream of who I wanted to be
do they realize I have a name?
When they look at me, what do they see?
childhood memories
a family’s love?
When they look at me, what do they see?
the need for a friend
a soul crying out?
When they look at me, what do they see?
nothing
they look the other way
Lunch with Lee
In case you don’t know, Lee is a homeless man that I’ve become friends with over the last two weeks (I’ve sat with him three times), and on Friday, I invited him to have lunch with me on Monday, which was yesterday, and what an amazing time it was! It seems like it will be hard to put into words the wonderful lunch we had, but I will do my best to invite your heart to dance with mine. Continue reading
A Battle for Purity…Being Won
Last night at bible study, we almost thought that no one would show. Janel co-leads the ministry with me, and we had been there for almost an hour, recapping things that happened at the convention, discussing strategies for next time, when, all of a sudden, a beauty walked in, and she was so excited about life!
She’s been coming to our study for awhile. We’ve walked beside her through the ups and downs of life. We’re friends, and that’s what happens in our study: we become friends with you and experience life with you, and she was ready to share her experiences lately about her battle for purity. Continue reading
Will Not Return Void
Every day, when I go to work, that’s only part of my day. God has this amazing way of setting up encounters from the car into work, during my lunch, and from work to the car, and one of these encounters involved meeting a homeless man named Cedric.
The first time I met him, he appeared to be grumpy and didn’t want prayer. When I meet people like that, I continue to build a relationship with them, I just won’t offer prayer…won’t even talk about God, and then one day, all of that changed. Continue reading
To Never Be Alone
Yesterday morning, as I was walking up a slight hill towards work, I noticed a homeless man named Cedric walking down toward my direction from across the way. I hollered to him, and he hollered back. I turned the corner, and as I was walking, I could hear his shopping cart advancing at a quicker pace than my step, so I slowed down, so he’d be able to catch up, and he did. Continue reading
A Moment of Value
A little while ago, I met a very grumpy homeless person at the bus stop outside of work. We would talk here and there. I would pray for him, bless him. He mentioned he didn’t believe in God but would “humor” me by letting me pray. Then, he met God.
A couple months back, he collapsed, was rushed to the hospital, and returned back to the bus stop with a pacemaker and a walker. (He was not a fan of either one, especially the walker. When he sits, he uses it as a head rest. When he walks, he carries it.) When he had returned to the bus stop and I had seen him, he said, “Laura, after almost dying, everything looks different now.” And it was only the beginning.
I had prayed for him that day, and when he returned (like a week later), he said he was freaked out because after I had prayed, “things happened.” Anyway, a couple weeks ago, he gave me an envelope with papers in it to show the kids. It was about model airplanes. His passion. (When a homeless person loans you something, that’s huge because they don’t have much to lend out.) I really wanted to return this to him but stopped seeing him.
The past two weeks, I have been checking almost daily at the same time he’s usually there and haven’t seen him. He always caught the 10:08 am bus. I wouldn’t see him every day, maybe once or twice a week. Yesterday, he wasn’t there again, so I told God, “Alright! Where is he? Will you let me know if he’s okay?” He answered.
Around 11:30 am, I went outside to deliver mail, and there he was! I said, “Emil! Where have you been?” He was happy to see me and had been blessed with a temporary place to sleep (if he’s early enough). We only had a couple minutes to talk, and the bus approached. He got up, and I pointed at him and said, “YOU have VALUE!” He looked up toward heaven and yelled, “Do you hear that, Ma?!” Then he looked at me, smiled, and got on the bus.
I love God, how He moves, how He loves, how He waits, how He protects! He’s so awesome!
The Beauty of Friendship
Throughout my life, I had never like women. To me, they were backstabbing, manipulative, not trustworthy. And then I sobered up but still kept women at arm’s length away from me. That was all part of the enemy’s plan, but now, I live through victory!
The majority of phone numbers in my phone are of women I know. They have blessed me beyond belief in so many different ways and in so many different areas of my life. I can’t even imagine living life apart from my lady friends, and this morning, I enjoyed time with one of them.
Every few weeks, this girlfriend of mine and I make time for each other in the early morning hours and go walking together. This morning, she came over at 6:30 am, and we ended back at my place a little after eight. What an incredible time we had!
When we walk, we talk about life, relationships, God, healing, issues, torment…everything, but at the moment something comes to light that needs the attention of heaven, we stop and pray. It is such a blessing! We laugh. We cry. We rejoice. It’s just amazing!
Life is too good to be lived alone. God is too big to be hidden. Love is too strong to be kept inside. Relationships – friendships – are so amazingly important! Today, isolation has no place in my life. Hallelujah!!
Worship Flags and Infinity Scarfs 