Steve is coming to help serve today. I work with him and when he heard that there was church in the park he said he wanted to come.
He said he helped serve food to the homeless a couple of times in San Francisco. When he asked when he should come I invited him to come this Friday. Pastor Dave, Jimmy, Christina, Erin and a number of others would be out of town along with others on vacation so I knew we would be short of help.
Pastor Dave and Jimmy started this whole thing. They were talking to some of the homeless men who camp behind Wendy's. They asked the men what did they need. One man, Randy, said they needed to eat on Fridays. St. Timothy's feeds them all the other days. Jimmy asked them would they come to the park on Fridays if a meal was provided and they had church. Randy said yes but not at night. Why?, Jimmy asked. Cause we're all drunk and no one would come so do it in the morning. Cool, said Jimmy. Randy said they needed protein, that St. Timothy's feeds them mainly starches and they need more protein. Cool, said Jimmy.
That's how it started almost a year ago.
It's about 50 who come on a regular basis. They always get protein. Christina gets the volunteers to cook. Christina was telling me awhile back that when they lost the person who planned the meals and coordinated the whole effort Pastor Dave came to Christina (his wife) and asked her to take over. She shared with me that at first she resented the suggestion. Three kids, full time ministry, running around doing everything for everybody and keeping the house maintained so that the office, youth group, women's meetings could meet there. She is busy. So she was hesitant and not thrilled but she said she would. As she was telling me this her eyes filled with tears as she shared that now that she has come to know individuals and their stories she finds that as she is cooking the meals God brings faces to her and she finds herself praying for them. She has fallen in love with Friday morning church in the park. Her children come and they eat with the others.
No ministry is single minded. God reaches down and does His work in so many hearts.
Back to Steve, he was a trooper! Without knowing anyone there but me he just found a spot by the bleu cheese Cole slaw and started serving. It will be interesting to see if he returns.
One "almost fight" broke out today. God brought peace as the other men shouted, "Hey, this is church, cut it out!"
This is different stuff...we are not feeding the homeless. We are not trying to change them. They don't come just to eat...they really believe this is their church and that is how they talk about it.
All in all today was a good day. I got to see how the Lord has settled things in me as well. I wasn't worried about whether Steve felt comfortable or if he approved. I would have had great concern about this not too long ago. Instead I found myself asking the Lord to take care of Steve while I helped get things set up. And He did.
I think that I have decided that it is time to just get up, get back out from behind church walls, and dare to just do it!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Franny, me, and fried chicken...
Franny and I went to get the food today. The gentleman who had cooked the meal was stranded with a broken car on the other side of town. We weren't sure if what we had would be enough so Franny and I both offered to go to Smith's and get some of their fried chicken and chips.
I had never met Franny before. She waited in her pick-up for everyone to arrive this morning while I waited in my car. I always do that...wait in the car. Jimmy made me promise that I would not wait by myself out in the park if I got there early. Today was no different. I called Bekah and I sat and talked with her when I saw the pickup pull in next to me.
When the others arrived with the drinks and part of the meal Franny and I got out of our respective sanctuaries and went over to help Christina. That's when we heard the food would be very late in getting there. I asked Christina if we should go and get food ourselves, you know, ready made. We decided I'd go and get the chicken.
That's when I heard Franny say she wanted to go as well. I thought that was great. Franny and I got into my car and we introduced ourselves.
She and her family just moved here in April. They have not been to the Journey very much...her husband has problems in large social situations. But the time she did go she heard about the Friday morning church service in the park. So, for her birthday she treated herself to some ministry and came to help...I thought that was so cool to give on your birthday.
Sometimes, all a person needs is the opportunity to be a giver...sometimes God simply drops people into the right situations so that they can find the value in their lives.
Franny is thirty-three and has two children. She said that when she came to the desert that's when she saw the majesty of God. That's how I felt thirty years ago when I came to the desert for the first time. That was in New Mexico and I was a hippy looking to find myself. I am so glad that I found God instead. Franny was three years old then.
Now, here we meet, at a church service in the park where 45-50 homeless people join us for a meal and a word. And isn't it funny that we both sat in our cars, waiting for the troops (so to speak).
And isn't it funny that we both thought the same thing when we first laid our eyes on the desert thirty years apart. Isn't it funny and awesome and good that God has not changed...His magnificence still astounds us and affects us no matter what generation we are.
I doubt that Franny and I grew up listening to the same music or having the same politics. I don't think she ever had to travel back and forth across this country to find herself. I think our lives and tastes were very different. But God. His entrance in to both our lives has brought us to the same spot in the universe to do the same thing and for similar reasons.
We missed the Word part of the service today but that's okay. Franny and I got to see how God moves history around to get the job done.
Simple church, God's way, amazing!
I had never met Franny before. She waited in her pick-up for everyone to arrive this morning while I waited in my car. I always do that...wait in the car. Jimmy made me promise that I would not wait by myself out in the park if I got there early. Today was no different. I called Bekah and I sat and talked with her when I saw the pickup pull in next to me.
When the others arrived with the drinks and part of the meal Franny and I got out of our respective sanctuaries and went over to help Christina. That's when we heard the food would be very late in getting there. I asked Christina if we should go and get food ourselves, you know, ready made. We decided I'd go and get the chicken.
That's when I heard Franny say she wanted to go as well. I thought that was great. Franny and I got into my car and we introduced ourselves.
She and her family just moved here in April. They have not been to the Journey very much...her husband has problems in large social situations. But the time she did go she heard about the Friday morning church service in the park. So, for her birthday she treated herself to some ministry and came to help...I thought that was so cool to give on your birthday.
Sometimes, all a person needs is the opportunity to be a giver...sometimes God simply drops people into the right situations so that they can find the value in their lives.
Franny is thirty-three and has two children. She said that when she came to the desert that's when she saw the majesty of God. That's how I felt thirty years ago when I came to the desert for the first time. That was in New Mexico and I was a hippy looking to find myself. I am so glad that I found God instead. Franny was three years old then.
Now, here we meet, at a church service in the park where 45-50 homeless people join us for a meal and a word. And isn't it funny that we both sat in our cars, waiting for the troops (so to speak).
And isn't it funny that we both thought the same thing when we first laid our eyes on the desert thirty years apart. Isn't it funny and awesome and good that God has not changed...His magnificence still astounds us and affects us no matter what generation we are.
I doubt that Franny and I grew up listening to the same music or having the same politics. I don't think she ever had to travel back and forth across this country to find herself. I think our lives and tastes were very different. But God. His entrance in to both our lives has brought us to the same spot in the universe to do the same thing and for similar reasons.
We missed the Word part of the service today but that's okay. Franny and I got to see how God moves history around to get the job done.
Simple church, God's way, amazing!
Friday, July 6, 2007
Friday morning...
When I pulled up to the park this morning there were already 15 or so there. Some were laying under the trees, being real still, saving their energy. Others sat around and on a shaded table off to the side. There were only a couple under the gazebo. No one from my side was there yet so I didn't get out of my car.
I have a new car. Everything works; the air conditioning, the radio, the lights... I sat in my car with the engine running, the air on, and the doors locked. I figured it would be best to wait this way 'til someone came.
Those that were there already could see me but they didn't beckon me to get out of the car. They knew why I stayed there. It didn't make them feel bad though. They knew I was being careful for a reason. They agreed with my behavior.
Finally Jimmy and Pastor Dave came with the food. Those at the table and under the trees arose and met us. I was out of the car now. They came to help carry the food and drinks to the gazebo.
They always help. We feed them first and then we have church. They always stay
'til the end and then they help us get everything back to the car. We go our way in our air conditioned cars and they...well, they retreat back into the desert or to the library where they can sit in the coolness and pretend to read the newspapers. Mostly they wander around downtown til dark and then head back to camp.
They are the homeless ones. We are not. But once a week we meet and have church in the park.
Some would say we go and feed the homeless. To me, it is church in the park. Pastor shares the Word, sometimes we sing a song or two. The food is good...at least they always thank us for our trouble.
Many of our regulars were not there today. Some of them had pink slips of paper, tickets over $600.00 each for being homeless. Wednesday was July 4th, Independence day...so a lot of our regulars were not there, especially the women. We think they are in jail for the weekend.
But once a week, for a couple of hours, we have the same life, we and them. We sit together and eat and listen and pray.
Jimmy says they are all mostly left over cowboys with no cows...
It's the highlight of the week for me. I love going to Friday morning church in the park. It's real and good and full of Jesus.
Simple, church.
I have a new car. Everything works; the air conditioning, the radio, the lights... I sat in my car with the engine running, the air on, and the doors locked. I figured it would be best to wait this way 'til someone came.
Those that were there already could see me but they didn't beckon me to get out of the car. They knew why I stayed there. It didn't make them feel bad though. They knew I was being careful for a reason. They agreed with my behavior.
Finally Jimmy and Pastor Dave came with the food. Those at the table and under the trees arose and met us. I was out of the car now. They came to help carry the food and drinks to the gazebo.
They always help. We feed them first and then we have church. They always stay
'til the end and then they help us get everything back to the car. We go our way in our air conditioned cars and they...well, they retreat back into the desert or to the library where they can sit in the coolness and pretend to read the newspapers. Mostly they wander around downtown til dark and then head back to camp.
They are the homeless ones. We are not. But once a week we meet and have church in the park.
Some would say we go and feed the homeless. To me, it is church in the park. Pastor shares the Word, sometimes we sing a song or two. The food is good...at least they always thank us for our trouble.
Many of our regulars were not there today. Some of them had pink slips of paper, tickets over $600.00 each for being homeless. Wednesday was July 4th, Independence day...so a lot of our regulars were not there, especially the women. We think they are in jail for the weekend.
But once a week, for a couple of hours, we have the same life, we and them. We sit together and eat and listen and pray.
Jimmy says they are all mostly left over cowboys with no cows...
It's the highlight of the week for me. I love going to Friday morning church in the park. It's real and good and full of Jesus.
Simple, church.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Wondering still...
I don't mind getting older. It is happening gradually enough that I don't notice it...much! Except for the aches that limit me physically at times. I don't mind all that much. But...I don't want to get old in my thinking, you know? I stay connected to young people, alot. They are struggling with the very things I struggled with long ago. They have legitimate concerns.
Getting older has not necessarily given me answers for them. I still agree with a lot of things. I still wonder what my purpose is, what I was meant to be doing. I am still surprised by the simple answers that come my way after years of questioning. I'm still learning how to behave around 'grownups'. I try not to look back too often. Answers lie ahead of me, in God.
One of the things I have learned as I have grown older is that God has all the answers. He is ever before me. When I look back all I see is the destruction I and others I trusted have created. But when I look ahead, not into the future, not that kind of ahead but in front of me, like following someone on the way to somewhere, I see who He is and His perfectness and His solutions for me.
Today, Independence Day, I stayed home all day. Me and my dog. She isn't feeling well, her back hurts.
That is my kind of holiday, no obligations, no having to be anywhere...just home with the sun shining through the window as I attempt to become a blogger and finally get all these thoughts out there. Tomorrow I will go back to the routine but today I am just here and it is good.
I still wonder, though, what is my purpose...funny to say at my age but I really want to get on with the important stuff of God. No more wasting time giving in to fears and frustrations. Just doing what He would have me to do.
I wonder...
Getting older has not necessarily given me answers for them. I still agree with a lot of things. I still wonder what my purpose is, what I was meant to be doing. I am still surprised by the simple answers that come my way after years of questioning. I'm still learning how to behave around 'grownups'. I try not to look back too often. Answers lie ahead of me, in God.
One of the things I have learned as I have grown older is that God has all the answers. He is ever before me. When I look back all I see is the destruction I and others I trusted have created. But when I look ahead, not into the future, not that kind of ahead but in front of me, like following someone on the way to somewhere, I see who He is and His perfectness and His solutions for me.
Today, Independence Day, I stayed home all day. Me and my dog. She isn't feeling well, her back hurts.
That is my kind of holiday, no obligations, no having to be anywhere...just home with the sun shining through the window as I attempt to become a blogger and finally get all these thoughts out there. Tomorrow I will go back to the routine but today I am just here and it is good.
I still wonder, though, what is my purpose...funny to say at my age but I really want to get on with the important stuff of God. No more wasting time giving in to fears and frustrations. Just doing what He would have me to do.
I wonder...
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