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.