He
sits on an upside down pickle bucket sometimes 10 hours a day. His beard was
long and scruffy until he asked a "little hair cutter" to trim it.
"She said oh-oh, well now I'm almost a clean shaven man." He smiled
and rubbed his chin.
He's wearing the same coveralls he's worn for weeks. Says he's worked the new out of 'em. He'll take a shirt or a pair of socks now and then, but doesn't like the clutter, sides somebody will steal the extra.
I met him at the Cricket store a few weeks ago. He had a phone and a couple dollars but he drank one too many and talked about havin' a phone...woke up the next day, no phone, no bucks. So we got a phone that talks to him, and I programmed contacts for him.
He's got cataracts. He sees only shadows with a little color. He can't remember how long it's been since he could see someone's features or read a newspaper. He crosses a major street by judging the distance of the cars by sound. “Been hit by a car four times, keep hittin’ me on the left side, I keep thinkin’ I should back off the curb and get hit on the right side, kind of even things out.”
We’re
praying for eye surgery soon. He's really hopeful! He dreams about seeing the
hot dog and all the fixins' before he bites into it.
Feeling thankful.
Feeling thankful.
I called him today. He answered the phone! Asked him if he likes BBQ, "who doesn't in Oklahoma!" I drove over and stopped across the street. "Little sister, is that you?" We hugged; just a whiff of alcohol and it’s late in the day.
I bagged some sandwiches and chips. He said he would be seein' more guys later and yeah they'd love some sandwiches. I loaded him up.
He never flies a sign, cause he doesn't want to be arrested and taken out of his comfort zone. He sits on the bucket and he climbs into the hearts of others like he did mine, and he always gets just enough manna each day.
He asked for a Gatorade. I suck, forgot drinks. I gave him 5 bucks and reminded him it's God’s money. He held me tight as I asked God to protect him, to remind him that something better is coming, to please let him see again. He patted my cheek and headed into the QT.
“Deni
it’s getting cold and she’s sitting at that bus stop every morning, why won’t
she go to a shelter?” A caring friend has been asking me to check on this lady
for over a week.
I
finally made it. She was sitting there
with holes in her tennis shoes, smoking every last leaf of tobacco out of her hand
rolled cigarette. Her hands are stained from tobacco. She asks me a lot of
questions she wants to be sure I’m legit. A bag sits at her feet and she’s
wrapped in a stained and soiled blanket.
She tells
me she’s at that bus stop every morning, “And it sure is tough to try to make
it without a cup of coffee.” Coffee.
Just like that she had climbed into my heart…
I go
by and check on her and work at breaking her barrier of life events that haunt
her and keep her chained to that life on a bus stop bench. I asked her if she
had any other shoes, “Why? Yours look fine.” She eventually told me she would
love a pair of boots…and toenail clippers. “I can’t get pedicures and manicures
much in my line of work.” She smiled. I
told her about Isaiah 58, In His
service. I told her we don’t ask for funds, we don’t do fundraisers,
but we pray and God provides through the coolest of ways. She cocked her head
and insinuated there was room on the bench for me, “How can you help and not
ask people for money?”
We
had about $30 in our bank account. But, I prayed and told her I knew God wanted
her to have some boots and toenail clippers and He would provide. The next day
we received a donation through Your Cause. Your Cause is an online platform for
corporations to manage one or multiple philanthropic programs including employee
matching gifts and volunteer grant programs. An individual who works for AT&T made a donation
and AT&T matched their gift. Pretty
cool! God gave boot money!
Two
days later I showed up with a brand new pair of boots, some socks and a
complete toenail kit. She started to smile broadly, but noticed I was looking
at her and she said, “They probably won’t fit.” I told her I’d take them back
and get another size.
They fit!
Gratitude
unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It
turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn
a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. – Melodie Beattie
November 24th, 2016,
Thanksgiving, the one year anniversary of my Dad’s death. I didn’t want this
day we stop and take time to thank God for our amazing blessings, to be about
me. I prayed about serving Him today. So, I made some phone calls….
God had put a handful of people
on my heart to see if they would like to go out for a Thanksgiving meal with
us. But, each one I talked to said, “No thank you,” except one. The reasons
were varied, one was finally invited to his sister’s house and he wasn’t going
to miss it, one had just lost her job and her cousin invited her over, another
said no because she is agoraphobic and the thought of going out in public
almost pushed her into a panic attack.
God put these people on my heart
for a reason. The plan wasn’t mine, it was His, I just needed to pay attention
and listen to Him.
When I told the lady who said “yes”
it was just going to be her and I she was relieved. Her life has been filled
with trauma and she too was anxious about eating with strangers. So, we went to
Village Inn and she had a turkey and dressing dinner. All of her children live
out of state, so she would have been alone in her apartment with her cats –all day.
She told me some amazing life events and scolded me for not having a pet. We
talked about God and church and she’s agreed to go with me, “Sometime.” We gave her The Flower Man by Mark Ludy and an
advent devotional by Janet Denison and an envelope that I asked her not to open
until she got home.
As soon as she got home, she
opened the envelope and immediately called me in tears, saying, “Thank you,
thank you, thank you.” We put two $20 bills in the envelope. She is a senior
adult who lives alone on a fixed income. She drives, but only to the store
because she can’t afford the gas to go much further. She never has pocket
change or a few extra dollars in her billfold. Often she has called me because her
electricity is going to be cut off or she needs groceries. She’s exhausted most
of the ministries and agencies that provide groceries because most of them put
limits on how often she can get food. She had to have work done on her car and
she needed help with groceries for three months in a row and Isaiah
58, In His service provided each time because we don’t set limits and
God provided the funds.
She told me she was going to put
gas in her car and go to a park on the other side of town that she loves, “Just
to sit and feel the sun on my face.”
Feeling Thankful.
At
times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the
flame within us. Albert Schweitzer
I couldn’t get the woman out of
my mind, she’s all alone at home and too afraid to go out and get a
Thanksgiving meal.
I circled around and went back to
Village Inn and bought five turkey and dressing holiday meals complete with
pumpkin pie!! I drove over to her house
and knocked on the door. She wasn’t going to open it. I told her who I was and
promised not to come inside but wanted to give her something. She cracked the
door open and looked at the bag in my hand. “Happy Thanksgiving, I’m praying
for you.” She smiled and said thank you as I passed the bag to her!!
I showed up at the home of a
hoarder who hasn’t been able to cook on her stove for years and has agreed to
let Isaiah
58, In His service help to slowly and carefully start cleaning out her
home. She said she was trying to microwave something and burned it up…
Then to the home of two alcoholics;
got there just as they started drinking, nothing better than a vodka kiss on
the cheek…
Then to a senior who lives alone
with numerous dogs. He saw me coming and ran outside barefooted. “I was thinkin’
you might be comin’ by with some daily bread…is there pie in that bag?” You
bet.
I
write about the power of trying, because I want to be okay with failing. I
write about generosity because I battle selfishness. I write about joy because
I know sorrow. I write about faith because I almost lost mine, and I know what
it is to be broken and in need of redemption. I write about gratitude because I
am thankful - for all of it. - Kristin Armstrong
As love and thankfulness for our
family and friends is essential, I pray too that your heart is big enough to
reach out to our neighbors who struggle each day to get to work, feed their
family, get medicine without insurance and suffer from loneliness and hopelessness.
Isaiah 58, In His service tries to
love on those God brings to us with quiet actions filled with compassion. With
the hope of showing the character of Jesus through tangible ways so prayerfully
they will begin a personal relationship with Him.
The 12th annual Holiday Helping Hands Project has begun! We have a handful of
families so far, that we will love on this Christmas. If you would like to buy
gifts, wrap and deliver; buy gifts and give to us to deliver or provide gifts
we welcome your “thanks-giving” with open arms.
If you purchase gifts on Amazon,
go to Amazon.smile and plug in Isaiah 58, In His service and we
will be blessed by your giving!
“…We have
not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of
His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in
order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every
way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being
strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may
have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father,
who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom
of light. Colossians 1:9-12
Feeling thankful for each of you
who pray for us, give to us financially or in gifts in kind. Know that you are
prayed for.
In His service,
deni A. fholer
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