Community

~ Denise ~ 9 Comments

Community:  Thesaurus – group of people, neighborhood, the people, kinship, cooperative spirit, similarity.

I’ve been mentally and literally taking some notes about the people we have been meeting when we go to Finley Park for Operation Soup and Smokes.    Little by little they have been sharing their stories with us.  I want to share their stories, but I also want to show them the compassion and respect they deserve.

I know that there are many that support the work at Finley Park but are unable to physically be there.  So, how do I help them feel like they are there and share our new friends’ stories?  I have on a previous blog posted about Bryan, because he is no longer with us.  However, for future blogs about the friends that we are meeting at the park, unless they have given permission to use their names or pictures, I will only refer to them with an initial.

We can get so hung up on attaching a name and a physical description to describe someone, so I’ll try not to do that.  Do you think that is why there are so many unnamed people in the Bible when it comes to some of the big life lessons? Point to ponder on there.  Just thinking off the top of my head, the Good Samaritan, the woman at the well who was given living water, or the woman who wept at Jesus’ feet.  When there isn’t a name, we can then more easily relate to the situation.  Don’t worry though, God knows their name!  Okay, I’m digressing.

Back to Operation Soup and Smokes and the people we are meeting.  These are the life experiences they are sharing with us.  I want to share one today.

R – Has been on the streets since he was 14. His father was an alcoholic, his Mother was not.  Father was an “Army” man; always told him to “go in the Army”.  R got himself in a “bit of trouble” when he was younger, so “that option wasn’t possible”.  When his Mom died, he “just started living on the streets”, and “just doesn’t know anything else”.    He works when he can with “Carnie jobs”.  He fell from a Ferris wheel and hurt his back.  His back really bothers him when he has to carry his duffel.  He stays in a shelter at night.  Right now he is storing his duffel in a warehouse.  He has constant knee problems and they swell really badly.  R is a friendly, cheerful and helpful soul.  He shares what knowledge of life on the streets he knows and where to get help with the “newcomers”.   He helps us set up and serve.  He will tell us about people that need “a helping hand”, and introduce us to them.

On our last trip, he was eating some banana cream pudding and reminiscing about his mama’s pudding.  He said she could make some “mean pudding”.  He stopped for a moment.  He told me that his father could be real mean when he drank.  He said one time his father threw some pudding that his mother had made.  He got quieter.  I don’t know if he said his father threw the pudding at his mother or at the wall.  But then, he looked at me and smiled, and said, “I went and ate it with her.  I wasn’t going to waste it, she made some good pudding.”  And he imitated taking pudding off his face and licking his fingers.  Sometimes actions speak louder than words, you know?  He didn’t have to tell me what really happened that day.  I had a pretty good idea.  There were some tears behind his smile.   Sometimes there really isn’t anything to say out loud.  That’s when I’m praying inside for guidance to either be still and listen or to speak.   For R, he needed an ear to listen and a hug.

“Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in grief.”  Proverbs 14:13

When we were leaving for the day, after he helped load up the cars, he stopped to tell me that he would be praying for one of the helpers who was scheduled for surgery the following week and the doctor.

Community – yeah, he’s a part of our community.

What’s driving you nuts right now?

~ Denise ~ 1 Comment

Okay, new topic….WOW…topic guy….this could get a person in some serious trouble.

So I looked at all the people in my life, and I mean ALL and these are the areas that are driving me nuts right now listed in no particular order:

….  Sigh   ….

Did you really think I was going to list them??

To be honest, I started too.  Came up with a list of about three or four, okay twelve things, and then I stopped.  How far did I want to take this exercise?

When I looked at the list closely, I could put my name beside each one with a big fat GUILTY.

On Wednesday evenings there is a group of us that are studying Really Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs.  (Last time we studied Slightly Bad Girls, we’ve moved on up to the really bad ones – haha).  Anyway, this is now the third time that I have read this book, and next week we will be discussing the adulteress that was dragged before Jesus.  I talked little about this account in the Bible here.

But, back to a point, that I was intending to make….I know, I get there eventually…Liz mentions these Seven Deadly sins, a spiritual accounting that doesn’t appear in Scripture as such but has been around at least since 600 A.D. give or take.  In their traditional order, those seven killer crimes are:

  1. Pride
  2. Greed
  3. Envy
  4. Anger
  5. Lust
  6. Gluttony
  7. Sloth

Well, like she said, on any given day-in any given hour-I’ve seen every one of these sins at work in my flesh.  Ouch! times seven.

For example, when things seem to be going so well for people, I’m happy for them, but then, I think, ‘I could do that’, (my pride), then my greed says “gee, that could come in handy right now”, then I can get frustrated (angry) and it doesn’t take long to just travel down that list of sins.

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”  1 John 1:8

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  1 John 1:9

So when things feel like they are driving me nuts, I need to look at myself, and listen.  I’m up there at the top of my own list.

“Psalm 103:12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

Once confessed, I’m a free woman again.  The Lord is more interested in our future than our past.  Yeah!  Move forward!

Hey, thanks to everyone for following, commenting and “liking” my blog posts.  Your encouragement  is appreciated!

 

How do you define a friend?

~ Denise ~ 4 Comments

So I’m doing this “Post A Week” challenge, and they send me suggested topics.  Well I got one this past week…”How do you define a friend?”

Well, I thought…okay, I like that topic, I can write about that.  I’ve been blessed with friends in my life that even though we have moved various times, I can contact and it seems like we are able to pick right back up.  I could write about that, or I could write about my dear friend of the past 17 years.  (Wow, I didn’t realize it has been that long until I actually figured it out)

But, then I started doing other things, and well, I just didn’t get around to writing anything.

One thing that I’ve learned while reading the Bible is that when the Lord wants to emphasize something He will repeat it three times.

That came to mind this morning after waking up from a night of three different dreams involving the same friend.  I mean I woke up at least three times last night and when I went back to sleep one particular friend was in each dream.

Now, I have some different dreams.  They don’t always make sense to everyone else (just ask my husband about the starfish on the ceiling).  They are however, always in color, always very vivid, and usually always make perfect sense to me at the time that I am having them.

I’m not going to go into the details about my dreams, I’ll save that for my friend.  I will say though that the dreams covered girlfriend sharing, family and past co-workers.

That pretty much describes our 17 year bond.  We are kinda like a three-legged stool.  We’ve been wobbly at times.  Sometimes on one leg or another.  But, the seat has been glued on by God.  He put us together.   Whenever we sit, He is with us.

Three dreams.  I know God has placed this person in my life for a reason.  I always known it.  Bless her.

How do I define a friend?  A person chosen by God to help you become the person He wants you to be.   What a gift it is when you recognize it and can thank him for it!

Thank you Jesus for the friends you have placed in my life!

His name was Bryan

~ Denise ~ 4 Comments

They were just a few moments, just a few words, just a few things.  Words of greeting.  Words of encouragement.  Food for the belly.  A scratch on a dogs head.

We were just beginning to know his story.  He had learned to trust us enough to ask for help when he felt afraid and wanted a ride to another location.

Caring and loving of his only companion, his pal, his dog.

We had been wondering how he had been doing on the streets, because with his dog, he didn’t make use of the shelters, and we had been having  some particularly cold weather.  He had talked about going back to New Mexico.

Now, he has been found, having died from a stroke, his faithful companion beside him.

I didn’t really know what exactly I would think, or who I would be talking to when we started going downtown and feeding the homeless at the park…it is sort of  something you just start doing.

I do know that a strong impression I get is they really want you to recognize them.  They like if you remember them.  I mean, don’t we all like to be remembered?  Imagine, (well, I remember when) if you are feeling down on yourself, and people don’t even look at you, or acknowledge you, it’s like ‘remember me?’ So, I have been really trying to remember their names, and the pieces of their stories they tell us.  Isn’t that how people know they are important to us, when we remember stuff about them?  We may not always get everything right, but when we put forth the effort, it means something, you know?

I’ve been learning a lot of things from my new friends.  (I’ll try to blog about that some more.)  I’ve just been thinking some though about Bryan’s last words to us.

He had asked for a ride to the interstate  because he thought he wanted to get back to New Mexico.  He talked about how pretty it was.  He talked about some other things, but when we all shook hands, his last words were  to us “God bless you”.

You know, sometimes you think you are helping people in some small ways, and they turn out they are blessing you.  You think you are being God’s hand’s and feet and maybe it’s the other way around sometimes.

Too often the assumption is made that the homeless aren’t “spiritual” or “Christian”.  Well, I’ve had some pretty “spiritual” and insightful conversations with a few individuals.  Oh, they don’t fit that pretty little box that society has for them, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be “Jesus with skin on” too.  Maybe, just maybe their ministry is walking around in that pit of despair helping those who need it.   Don’t tell them to get out of the pit, or tell them how wrong they are, maybe they are supposed to be there helping the others.  Maybe, that’s their purpose.

I am sure there is much more for me to learn from our new friends.  Right now I’m just going to remember the last moments with Bryan.  Remembering him talking with us.  Remembering his eyes.  Remembering him talking and petting his dog.  Remembering his blessing.

Operation Soup and Smokes

A great book to read about homelessness

What do you want to be remembered for?

~ Denise ~ 2 Comments

I was thinking about that question….and actually I thought about it in reverse.   If that even makes sense.  (Well it does in my mind, sorry)

I was remembering encountering hypocritical, judgmental people in my life.  Sometimes that gulp was is even me.  And I was thinking well, I don’t want to be remembered for being someone who judged  people all the time, I want to be someone who was remembered for being as accepting as they could be and as loving as they could be.

Now if I have one, correction, make that one of my “hot buttons” is judging people.  We all have at one time, or all do it.  This is something though that I really am sensitive too and fight really hard not to do.  Do I fail at times?  I know I do.  But, I continually try.  That’s because I know what being judged feels like.  I talked about that a while back.

I guess I’ve been thinking about it a little more because of spending time talking with our new friends that we’ve encountered at Finley Park.  They are a mixed bunch of souls.  I could put labels on them like the rest of society does regarding the homeless, however, I am trying to learn their names.  Do I think that everything they are telling me is the absolute truth.  Probably not.  It’s not my place to be their judge.  I’ve only been asked to show kindness and love.

You know everybody gets in a pit, and everybody’s pit is different.  Guess what, you and I will be in a pit again or are already in one.  It’s called life, it happens.  And when you are in a pit, and don’t have hope, the last thing you want to hear is “you should do such and such” or “why are you doing that” or “you should know better”.  Then there are the well meaning people who “throw tracts” down at you in the pit or tell you to “just go to church” while you are in the pit.  “Bless their hearts”.

Sorry, that didn’t work for me, when I was in my pit long ago.  It was the people who loved me for who I was, in spite of who I was.  It was the people who didn’t give up on me, who stayed with me, didn’t ignore me, and walked beside me, listened and talked to me while I was in the pit.  That didn’t mean they liked what I was doing.  I never felt that they did.  However, I did feel that they cared, respected me and loved me.  Once I realized that they accepted and cared for me the way I was, then I was open to allowing God heal my heart again.  (I didn’t realize it at the time that He was already healing it through the loving people around me).

Now I have a favorite passage of scripture that talks about the Judge, being judged, and being accepted.

John 8

1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery.

Caught in adultery.  That would mean in a state of undress.  Exposed.  Nothing hidden from anyone.  I can just feel her shame, I can feel the heat on her cheeks.  I also wonder why didn’t they bring the man?  Wasn’t he just as much to blame?  (That because when I usually am caught in any sin of mine, I usually want to bring people along with me.  Look all the way back to Adam and Eve,  “this woman you gave me”, “the serpent made me do it”.  Ok, I’m digressing here on some other scriptures.) From the first time I really read this passage, I could feel the rejection and the ridicule of the public alienation of those around her.  I could connect with that.

They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

So, they didn’t care about her at all.  That’s why they didn’t bring the man.  It was really just a trap for Jesus.  Imagine how used she must have felt.  Yes, she had responsibility for her actions, but still nobody likes to be a pawn.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

The Bible doesn’t say what Jesus wrote.  The only place in the Bible that I can see where Jesus wrote and it doesn’t say what he wrote.  I like though what my friend Rebecca had to say about this passage during one of her pits.   Just substitute your name and birthday.

9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

The part of the passage that I don’t like comparing myself to is the people holding the stones.  Yet, we have all been there.  Holding our collective stones at one time or another.  It is just the person in the circle has been different.  The “sin” has been different.  So, I try hard not to hold any stones in my hand.  It is hard.  Hard because we are all sinners.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

But back to the woman.  Can’t you imagine she was peeking between her fingers while she was cowering there, as her accusers left one by one.  And then she is left standing there with Jesus.  Why does she stay?  Because she knows she is guilty.  Does that last bit of pride keep her there?  Pride?  Yes, even when we know we are wrong I know I am wrong, we I stubbornly hold on.  She knows here is one who can throw a stone.  Will he?

10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Jesus knew the change of her heart.  Would she sin again?  Yes, because we are all sinners.  Would she sin in that particular way?  The Bible doesn’t say.

It just makes me love Jesus more when you know He loves you in the junk before you even admit the crap.  Talk about acceptance and love.

I want to be remembered for helping people feel a piece of that.

I’m not one for resolutions…however…..

~ Denise ~ 3 Comments

I’m not one to make New Year’s Resolutions…maybe it is because I tend to break them within the first month week.  However, I have decided that I need to blog more.

I mean what is the point of having this thing if I’m not going to do it?

I think of things that I want to say sometimes, but too often  I get hung up on “well, I can’t say that“, or “should I say that” or I realize that over the years I have completely forgotten everything I learned concerning proper English and Grammar.  (I don’t even want to think about how many rules I have already broken so far).  Sigh.

However, rather than just thinking about blogging more, I am going to do it.  I have started this week, right now.  I will be posting at least once a week for all of 2011.

I know it won’t be easy, but it might be fun, inspiring, awesome, wonderful and with me definitely random.  Therefore,  I’m committing to use the The Daily Post and the community of other bloggers with similar goals, to help me along the way, including asking for help when I need it and encouraging others along the way.

If you already read my blog, I hope you’ll encourage me with comments and likes, and good will along the way.

Thanks!

Denise