A day... rainy... cold... and yet...AMAZING!!!

      I woke up today with dread and just feeling like today was a good day just to stay in bed. It was rainy, cold, and just plain blah. I didn't want to get out of bed, and yet, I knew that we had a bbq to host with Mike Widen and Bill Hanson from Re-Armor homes. At Streets Of Hope Outreach (SOHO) we have been in the process of working on renovating a church. As it stands we have been graciously been given full use of a beautiful church at 515 Farrington Street in the center of Frogtown in St. Paul. For us it has been a Godsend as it is dead center to many of the folks we serve, a firebase alpha if you will. In that we have beenn so blessed in provisions of all sorts that it brings me to my knees, and yet there is still so much more to do. We had been graciously helped by Bishop Bill Watson from Revolation Church in the planning and support. Mike Dokken from Grace Church in Eden Prarie was also quick to throw his hat in and also help us too. To have the help from folks from 2 powerhouse churches was just amazing in it's own right. Yet, with the weather, I think we all wanted to call the game due to rain, but we had told the people of the neighborhood that we would be there. I was praying on what we should do, when I was given, 'those who are looking won't come, those who are searching will'. I guess that solidified it for me. Game on.
     As I dove my way to St. Paul, I was questioning my sanity. Who was going to come to a bbq on a 40 degree day with freezing rain? When I got to the church I had my answer. There waiting in the rain was a 14 year old boy who has come around quite a bit as we have been starting to get the church back in order. I greeted him, to which he quickly stated, 'man, I wasn't sure if anyone was gonna show. I been here since 6:30.' Right there, I had my answer, he had come because, 'somethin good was gonna happen'. He had come expecting almost 5 hours before the bbq was even supposed to start. I had to run a few quick errands to the local stores, like get a cup of coffee, he quickly asked if he could walk with me. As we walked, we talked. We talked about school, girls, basketball, and a bunch of other stuff. We had gotten to the store right as they opened, so I had to wait while the coffee machine warmed up. As we sat and waited, I just felt the need to ask the question, 'what are your dreams?'. In an instant, he replied, 'I wanna move far far away, like Maple Grove.' I asked, 'why Maple Grove?' His reply, 'life's better there'. Talk about a humbling moment. I now knew why we were there on a Saturday, in freezing rain, at 40 degrees, for a bbq.
     As the time to start up neared the weather got worse, most folks were running late due to the weather, and we had no idea where our grills and our cooks were. Matthew suddenly wandered onto the scene, commenting that he had had the same reservation that I had, but was given, 'If you aren't gong to serve me in the rain, will you serve me in the sun?' Since the cooks had the bulk of the food, that was an issue. Then it started, one by one everyone came together. Piece by piece. Bishop Bill arrived, and so did Mike Dokken, Mike had brought Mitch who is an instrumental part of the Outreach program at Grace, and George Bunnell, the pastor of Grove Church in Maple Grove, (which I thought was an interesting add since my young friend had mentioned Maple Grove in our conversation earlier. Mike Widen rolled up with a grill, and three guys from the community walked through the rain and hauled their grills back to the church, 'just in case we needed more'.
     It then began, the grills were fired up, I honestly figured if 3 people showed up, it was a success, n this weather. Well, God decided to show me what he had meant earlier. They started coming, person after person. The best part, they would get their food, and just hang out, everyone that was there at 11am, stayed til after the slated end time of 4pm. The highlight for me was when Mike Dokken started a prayer, it was amazing it seemed like everyone had a praise and prayer, and not only that, the tent was packed with people who were searching, voice after voice rose up in prayer, faith leaders, brothers and sisters along the way, and people from the neighborhood all joining voices in prayer, every race, color and creed represented one glorious voice to God. It was amazing. The ones who were searching had filled the tent, our minds, our hearts, and we all poured out our souls to one another. I was so blown away by the turn out. What an amazing day. I love each and every one of you and God does too. LLLAKYFOTPA XD

The Word On The Street Isn't Always Right.

     Recently I had heard from a few different folks that a dear brother of mine had passed. In the homeless world many that you meet along the way often go 'missing', this can happen for a number of reasons and  some  are good and some are bad. Since many are in a transient state, constantly moving from place to place to seek shelter there can be all kinds of stories, and sometimes the process is rooting through all of the tales to figure out what may have happened even though you may never know the true end. When someone dies in the community there is often no print or fanfare. If you are one of the lucky ones you get a single sheet of white paper with your intake photo, birthdate, deathdate and that's about it. If you're lucky. Otherwise, not much is heard or said. Today I had the fortune of being wrong. I had heard from multiple sources that my dear friend Hippie had passed, I heard it from a few different sources, slight differences to each story, but with the same conclusion. Hippie was dead. Which really confused Hippie when he walked into the drop in shelter this morning. I had mourned my dear friend, thinking of the many days we had discussed life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and now, I get to see him again, and share more moments of everything from laughter to pain. I can't explain my joy. So, with that, The Word On The Street Ain't Always Right. Time to track Hippie down and give him a big hug. I love each and every one of you and God does too. LLLAKYFOTPA XD