Look Into My Eyes

Matthew 25:35-40 'For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and cloth you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Yesterday was my day to go with my husband out to the prison and then on the streets to visit the homeless. I only get to go once a week with having children to care for, but my husband goes on a daily basis except Saturday's typically. I get very excited about Sunday's now in a way I never have before. We go have worship with our congregation and then one of the ladies that we are very close to, takes the kids for the day so I can go make my visits. We tend to concentrate on meeting the women so I can reach out to them. I did that yesterday and as I met them had good feelings about the meetings, but as usual have heartache at the same time as I leave them. One reason is just not wanting to leave them, but the biggest reason is I long for them to get their lives changed and not be stuck in this lifestyle. I have shed many tears over these people. God has put such a love in my heart for them that it gets overwhelming for me at times. One of the women made a comment to me that she knew I was like their mother chick trying to care for them and wanting the best for them as a mother does for their child. It hurts when the police go out and scatter them and then we frantically go out trying to find their new locations. A mother chick doesn't like to see her chicks far away from her and she wants to protect them. O how I long to get this village built so we can give them a place to stay and try to make life changing things happen. The ultimate thing is for them to know our God and want to follow Him. The other goal would be to help them learn how to function in life, give them job experience, and help them on their feet.
My main reason for this blog is not about the village or the women I meet weekly though. We had a change in events yesterday that just totally blew us out of the water. My husband and I were on our way from meeting one person who wanted to see me yesterday to meeting another that had been calling us and wanting us to meet them. So, we were on our way. Well, all of a sudden there was an older man who was waving us over to the other side of the street. My husband had met him before and said that we should go see what was going on. He told me that this man has colon and prostrate cancer and is dying. We walk over to him after the traffic cleared. He was leaning against a little store wall outside. We came up to him and he was in tears. He said, "I love these people so much! I cry for them all the time." He then looked us in the eye and said, "Jesus love you. He shed His blood for you." My husband said, "Yes, we know." He asked if he could give me a hug. I proceeded to hug him and he said, "I just love these people so much. I cry for them." I told him in his ear, "I totally understand, I have shed many tears over the people. I love them too." He then grabbed my husband on his other arm and said, "Look me in my eyes. I love you! I am with you!" My husband and I were both in tears. He then said, "The Holy Spirit has told me to share this with you and he started praying a prayer for us and the people on the streets. He then said, Look into my eyes...I LOVE YOU!" At this point he was getting weak. He is in so much pain. He told us he didn't think he would be around much longer. He knew he was going to die. He would look kinda stern at times, but I would just look at him in his eyes with a smile on my face and he would give me the biggest smile that I grew to absolutely love. It was like looking into Jesus' eyes. He would put his hand out, I would put my hand in his and he would be so gentle. He then looked at my husband and said, "Look into my eyes. You take care of this little girl. I love you." He then started doing a prayer for my husband concerning that. We were there for quite awhile talking to him. At the end he was looking down and said, "Jesus died for you. He shed His blood for you." Then he looked up and said, "Would you shed your blood for ME?" Wow! That was something. Jesus talks about in the Bible of giving your life for each other. How do you answer that? The man just looked and said, "I love you". We finally told him after talking to him for quite awhile that we had to meet another homeless person who wanted to see us. It was hard because he didn't want us to leave. He gave us a hug and said, "I'm speaking from my heart....I love you!"
I wonder...will we see this man anymore? Does he know his time is up? I pray and hope he isn't alone when he dies. I have asked my husband to take my camera out with him in case he sees him again so we can capture his eyes and smile. There was something about that situation that as Mike and I left, we were both crying. I didn't know if I was being weird or not in thinking that God was speaking to us through this man or not. I almost felt like we were looking into God's eyes. I kept thinking of that scripture I put above. I instantly thought when he wanted to hug us and give us kisses on the cheek that I wanted to run away, but then God gave me that scripture. I also thought of the stories in the Bible where Jesus and angels would show up in other forms and would speak to people. They almost felt the same way of fear but peace at the same time. I didn't say anything to my husband of my thoughts about this but then he said the same thing I was thinking and we both really started crying at that point. It was so overwhelming. Was God sending a message through this man of how much love He has for us? Was He having us look into this man's eyes to get a glimpse of Him? Was He making sure my husband knew without question that He is with him during all of this or with something that is coming up? Was HE telling my husband to take care of me because of something we don't know about yet or was it just a general taking care of me? So much to think about. My husband and I drove off to pick up the kids and were in total silence as we thought through what just happened. It was something we will never forget. How many times does God send someone to us, even a homeless man, to speak to us and we don't even realize it? He did it many years ago and His name was Jesus. People put Him down and thought His followers were crazy for believing that Jesus was the King of Kings and Lord of lords. "Look into my eyes." Start looking into people's eyes and really listen. You just might miss a glimpse and a word of our Lord if you don't. I await the day I get to see this man in heaven and talk to him about this day.

What Is Real Suffering?

For several days out here in our area it has been cold, rainy, and very windy. We have been having such hot temperatures and then all of a sudden, temp dropped and it has just been nasty outside. My daughter was complaining that it was cold in the house. I knew it was cold. My nose has been freezing off, my hands have been cold, I've been wearing layers of clothes, and wearing shoes. Anyone that knows me knows I don't like wearing shoes around the house, but it has been too cold to go barefoot. We haven't turned the heat on because of the money situation. With working full time in the ministry and not having an income to count on coming in, we don't want to turn it on. We are just thankful to have a roof over our heads and walls around us to block the wind and rain. So, everytime little girl would complain I would say, "remember our homeless friends out there that are laying on the ground getting soaked." She would say, "yeah, I know." and she would go off continuing her schooling. Finally she complained one last time yesterday and I said "Just remember, it could be worse." She said, "It is warmer outside." Well, I knew that wasn't true so I made her step outside. The wind was about to blow her away and she wanted to come in, but I said, "no, not yet." I wanted her to really get it in her mind what it was like to be worse off. I told her I knew it was cold, but you just have to focus on the possibility that we may be out there one day and there is always someone worse off than you are.

I have a facebook account and one of our friends mentioned that they had a discussion at work about that very subject. What is suffering? Is suffering when you don't have the money to buy the latest video game or is suffering when you don't know where your next meal will be? Is suffering when you are having problems paying bills or when you don't even have a home to have any bills? Or....is suffering not knowing our Saviour and being entangled in the web of Satan? That is the ultimate suffering. We have so many homeless friends who really do know what suffering is. Most of them have been abused as children in the most horrible ways, don't have any family or friends, don't have a roof over their heads, can't get a job because once someone finds out they are homeless they won't hire them, they are caught in drugs to try to take away the loneliness and pain away, they only get one small meal a day and nothing on weekends, the police move them from one place to another and never have stability, have to rely on others to give them warm clothes, and have nowhere to go to a private bathroom or shower. But, I think the worst suffering they go through is the fact that most are empty and don't have God in their life. How hard it would be to go through all these things that they go through and not have hope.

So, next time you start complaining about things that REALLY aren't important in life like getting your hair and nails done, going on vacation, it isn't quite the right temperature, you don't have enough clothes, you don't have enough shoes, you have dishes to wash, laundry to do, think about what is real suffering and how many people are truelly suffering everyday. Thank God for your salvation. Give thanks for the home you live in. Thank God for your family. Thank Him for being able to buy groceries, dishes that you can do, and clothes to be able to wash. Pray for the people who are really suffering and reach out to them. They need friendship, they need love, but most of all they need a Saviour.

Encouragement

Encouragement is very important in our lives whether you are a Christian or not. As a Christian, we are told to encourage one another. It is mentioned over and over to encourage one another on a daily basis. They even sent people to travel a long distance just to encourage a group of Christians to keep on going. Satan is always attacking and if you have those words of encouragement to keep on going, then you realize you aren't alone and it gives you that boost you need to keep going. We as humans are so ready to attack and judge one another, say hurtful things, or just not say anything and be silent. When we do those things, people feel alone, they feel like crawling in a hole and dying. You just feel like giving up.
We have a ministry with the homeless. It is a tough road. Every day we have to get up and make the choice to keep going even though sometimes you feel like you may not be getting anywhere. You go to the camps and nobody is there or walk the streets and can't find anyone because they are all hiding from the cops who keep making them move from one place to another. You go out and hear all the horror stories of how these people were abused as kids and come home crying and feeling overwhelmed with it all. It isn't easy. We love this ministry and the people, but it is hard. The one thing that keeps us going is hearing an encouraging word from someone whether it be by email, phone call, or a card in the mail. It is so awsome to get those words. They are so important to me that I have a file now that I keep them all. If you send an email with encouraging words, I copy it and put it in the file. If you send a card, it gets put in the file. That way, when we are having a rough day....we can pull those out and reread them.
We have also heard from the homeless where us being out there visiting them has actually saved their lives at times. We heard about one guy just today who said that my husband had saved his life a couple times because he was ready to end it. You never know how God is going to use your words. Please make an effort to give words of encouragement to your friends and family. Don't tear them down, build them up. Don't be silent and think they are doing just fine or think somebody else is probably encouraging them so why bother. You never know. They may be feeling lonely and you have just the words they need to hear. I want to challenge you to do a study on the word "encouragement" in the Bible. We all need encouragement and God thought it was so important that He showed us examples in the Bible of just what extent they went through to encourage one another. Be an encourager, not a destroyer. What an awsome and even free gift to give someone.....ENCOURAGEMENT.