God on the Streets

I have a number of friends and family members who are heading out on or have just returned from  mission trips this summer, and as I hear from them and pray for them, I am reminded of a mission trip I went on during highschool that was deeply impacting for me. I've been to Africa and I've been to Mexico, but my heart doesn't break for the poor or for the orphans as much as it does for the people group I encountered in my own home country, on East Hastings Street in Vancouver: the homeless. 

I believe we all need to be actively engaged in social justice. There are so many needs around us! I rejoice in those individuals and organizations that are passionate about reaching the starving, those with AIDS, children, refugees, and others who desperately need love and practical help. 

I just want to share how God spoke to me through "the street people."

(Story written in 2004 after our trip; don't think I've put it on my blog before...)

     “What are you doing, a project or something?”
     “Um, yeah,” I replied as I snapped a picture of one of the walls of her house.
       I probably didn’t have the right to be going through her house like I did, but I sort of couldn’t help it. I was going past her house anyway, so I decided to stop and take a look. Her house wasn’t the prettiest. In fact, it was ugly compared to the standards of today. The paint was peeling, the floor wasn’t swept, and it stunk. Bad. This lady herself wasn’t the best looking, either. Her hair was long and matted, her face dirty, her teeth crooked. The tone of her voice when she asked what I was doing implied that so many other people had come through her house—just like I was then—and not respected her or her property. She assumed I was just like all the other people. Many people walk through her house every day; at the same time, many people walk by her house, not daring to stop and see inside.
     You see, this lady’s house was a street; her bed a pile of cardboard boxes on the floor, her food the scraps in the dump. Every day many people would walk through the streets, not considering that this was someone’s personal property, not caring that this was someone’s house. It certainly didn’t look or feel like a home, but it was a place where someone dwelled. And I was one of many people who didn’t notice that. So when this lady asked me what I was doing as I took pictures, I was stopped dead in my tracks and had to think for a bit. Was I doing a “project”? Did I consider this whole mission trip to Vancouver a “project”, something I was working on? Well actually, yes…
     I headed into this mission trip with the mindset that I would show homeless people God’s love. I figured that downtown Vancouver—East Hastings Street—was a place where God didn’t really abide, so I needed to go and point these people in God’s direction. I thought that I had something they didn’t, and I wanted to share it with them. I did have some things they didn’t—I had a house made out of wood, money, new clothes, education, food, and most of all, peace, hope, love, and joy through Christ. So my plan (emphasis on MY) was to go and show these people God. Well, God took my plan and warped it and instead did HIS plan. Imagine that! It always amazes me how God can take something we want, something we plan, and turn it around and accomplish his will through it.
     One morning our group was led in a Bible study about, well, God. We read verses like Matthew 7:7 that says, “Seek and you will find…” Psalm 139:7, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” The point of the Bible study was that God is everywhere. In my mind I believed that, but it really got to my heart that afternoon.
      Our task was, in groups of four, to walk down East Hastings Street—alleys and all—and take pictures of people, places, or things that reminded us of grace, mercy, or redemption. It was interesting that the leader chose these three words, because it would have been much easier to find things about hope, or love, or healing. So our group started off. It was quite difficult to see anything at all that reminded us of God. As we were walking through one alley, we walked past a house that was fenced off. Leaning against the fence was an aluminum sheet with the word “Jesus” spray-painted onto it. Immediately we stopped to take a picture. What could better represent God than the word Jesus? It was pretty obvious. So we were fairy pleased that we had found one thing, and we continued to look for more. It was amazing to see some of the graffiti on the walls. The artists that drew these were amazing! People that live on the streets are gifted, and it is sad that the only way they are able to use their gifts is to draw depressing pictures and write hopeless poems. Here is one poem that I saw on a wall:

“The Gift”
RISING FROM WITHIN
THE MADNESS DOES BEGIN
THE VIOLENCE AND THE ANGER
THE PLEASURE THAT COMES FROM SIN
BEFORE YOU EVEN SEE IT
THE FUSE HAS REACHED ITS END
THE CHAOS AND THE TURMOIL
THEY SMILE LIKE THEY’RE YOUR FRIENDS
THE GIFT OF LIFE ABUSED, DENIED
IGNORED UNTIL THE END
THAT’S WHEN YOUR SOUL AWAKENS
AND SEES THAT THE GIFT WAS ITS BEST FRIEND
                                                            ----Lance (Chaos)

            We walked through a town square, and stopped to talk to a couple people sitting on a bench. A man in a wheelchair motioned for me to come over. He looked like he was in his sixties. I knelt down and talked to him. “My name’s George,” he said, “and this is my good buddy Fred,” he added, motioning to a man sitting beside him. “He’s real good at the guitar, ya know. He can get up, walk around, go wherever he wants to. Too bad I’m confined here in this wheelchair—can’t go anywhere or do anything useful.” I smiled. Through hearing his words, it reminded me of redemption. We all are born with sin and that sin traps us so that we can’t get out. But when Christ redeems us, we are set free of our sin and allowed to walk again. Like George was confined in his wheelchair we are bound by sin. George continued telling me stories about his life. “My wife died in 2001. It’s hard being apart, but I know that when it’s my time, the Big Man will take me up.” “Do you think your wife is in heaven?” I asked. “Oh I know she’s in heaven,” he replied, “she wouldn’t even spit on the ground she was so good!” God’s grace was shown in that George still had hope; he still saw “the light at the end of the tunnel” amidst the trouble and pain in his life. I asked if I could take a picture of him, and he said, “Only if I can take a picture of you!” I laughed.
            Through the rest of that afternoon, everywhere I went I saw God at work. Whether it was the smile of a man receiving a toque, a woman getting a stuffed bear to take home to her children, or an angel painted on a wall, I could see the fingerprints of God. Later that day I met the same woman who earlier had asked me what I was doing. She held a yellow tulip in her hands, and was smiling. Drastically different than when I had first met her. She even let me take a picture of her this time; she fixed up her hair and put this smile on her face and held the flower up to her cheek. It was a beautiful sight.
            As I mentioned, I had a plan for that week in Vancouver. I wanted to show God to people. But God ended up showing himself to me. I planned to take light into a dark place, but I came back realizing there is already a light there—it may not be as obvious as the darkness, but it is there. I learned that truly, as it says in Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” There is no place God isn’t. Nowhere his Spirit does not reside. God is at work everywhere—he is just waiting to be found.

Top Ten

Thought I'd write a simple post about 10 things I'm grateful for today. Giving thanks always puts things into perspective:

1) Snow. We haven't really had any snow this season...until last week! It is absolutely beautiful - not too cold, and falling gently. I love it! (And it makes me a bit homesick for Canada.)

2) Music! Last night my husband and I went to a jazz concert in an old monastery - how cool is that?! I love living in Europe :-) The band was excellent. Music is such a mysterious gift...

3) Food. As I write this, my tummy is telling me it's getting anxious for supper. I really don't know how blessed I am to have a fridge full of so many options of stuff I can eat. The *majority* of the rest of the world doesn't have that privilege. Wow.

4) Skype! Of course technology has its disadvantages, but at the same time it's great. I love being able to connect with friends and family "face to face."

5) Family.What else is there to say? I love and miss you guys!

6) Community! Being part of the "family of believers." Even though I'm adjusting to life in a new culture, I am surrounded by brothers and sisters in Christ, which immediately makes me feel at home.

7) The Word of God. You wanna know what I read this morning? A verse popped out at me from Judges 6 - God spoke to Gideon, and then Gideon went to prepare an offering for Him. "And the Lord said, 'I will wait until you return' " (v. 17). Maybe I'm taking it a little out of context, but I believe that God speaks the same thing to us today - He is always waiting for us to return. We may forsake Him, we may pursue our own kingdom a hundred times throughout the day, but He's always waiting for us to come back. Always.

8) The fireplace I'm sitting beside right now. Warm and cozy - 'nuff said!

9) Hope. As the old hymn goes, "Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow - great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!" God's grace keeps me going - every day.

10) You, my readers. Thanks for viewing my blog! Feel free to comment or share - I hope we can inspire each other.

So...what's on your "Top Ten Thankfulness" list of today?

Five Minutes...

"When will my husband be home?" she asked. "He gets off work at 5:00 this evening," I replied for the sixth time today.

We sit down to eat lunch. "You know, I had a friend once who always complained about not having enough money, but she was so wasteful with food..." It's the same story that I've heard, without fail, every time we eat together. I respond like I'm hearing it for the first time.

At the end of the meal she comments that the food tasted great. But an hour and a half later, she wonders if we've already eaten lunch.

My mother-in-law had a stroke two years ago, and because of it, her short-term memory was affected. She recognizes her family and she remembers the past, but in the day-to-day activities she simply can't remember what happens. She can't really be left alone, because she forgets where we are or what she's supposed to be doing. One of the main reasons we moved back here is because God gave us a burden to care for my husband's family, and especially his mom.

Some days she remembers that she had a stroke, and then she recognizes that her memory isn't as it should be. I can't imagine what she goes through when she is faced with her own weakness! It destroys her emotionally when she can't find someone or something in the house, and knows she can't do anything about it. It confuses her mentally when she sees things done in a way that hasn't been done before, and doesn't realize she was the one who did it. It burdens her spiritually to care about the welfare of her children but constantly not know how they're doing. And it hurts her physically if she overuses her right arm, which was paralyzed at first after her stroke.

As I spend my days with her, sometimes I wonder why I do what I do. Why make a nice meal if, within the hour, she will forget about it? Why initiate an activity when it will only last 10 minutes and then she'll be tired? Why invite friends and family over when, after they've left, she will have no recollection of them being here? Her face lights up with joy when she's doing something she loves, like teaching piano to a student, but that joy always seems so short-lived.

God is teaching me something through my mother-in-law's condition, though. And that is,  Live in the moment. Sing, pray, laugh, play, eat, reminisce, share deeply, cry, create...make the most of all opportunities. And enjoy them as they are. Have you ever had one of those holidays where you were so caught up in trying to take pictures and preserve the memories that you didn't stop to enjoy what memories you were making in the moment? We need to slow down.

A story has been going around on Facebook lately (you can read it by clicking here) about a man playing violin at a Metro Station in Washington, D.C. He played for an hour and collected a total of only $32, and no one applauded or paid attention, except a few young children who stopped and watched curiously, but being quickly hurried along by their parents. "No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music."

No one saw the beauty of what was happening.

If that can happen so easily in a metro station, how much more does it happen in our own lives? As we go about our days, our routines, our responsibilities, how much beauty are we missing out on?

It takes situations like my mother-in-law is in to remind me to slow down and appreciate what I have right here, right now. The psalmist prayed, "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). When you're in a condition like my mother-in-law is, you take things one day at a time. In fact, five minutes at a time. Every five minutes is precious, and every five minutes is new.

I know it's easy to be so eager for the next stage of life, or be worried about tomorrow, that we miss out on the joys of where we're at now. When you're young and single, you dream about being married. Then once you're married, all your friends start having babies and soon you want to be a parent. When you're a parent, you can't wait for your children to leave the house so you can have peace and quiet again. Then once the children are gone, you long for the gift of grandchildren to once again fill your home with laughter.

While no stage of life is easy, every stage of life is worth it. Take a look at this challenge in James 4:
¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

We don't only sin by doing something wrong...we sin by not doing something right.

Why is it worth it for me to cook something special for my mother-in-law? Because she'll enjoy it for that hour. Why is it worth it doing an activity together? Because it's good therapy that aids in her healing. Why is it worth it for her to get together with friends? Because as humans, we need relationship, and every conversation plants seeds.

Why is it worth it to pause from your busy agenda and listen to a violin in a metro station? Because in that time, you can "stop and smell the roses" and appreciate beauty...simply because.

Why is it worth it to cancel a meeting (the third this week) and instead spend an evening with your family? Because our days are numbered. Why is it worth it to pay for the order of the person behind you in the drive-thru? Because that may be the only glimpse of hope they have that day. Why is it worth it to show extra patience with the clerk in the store when you're having trouble finding everything you need (or just want)? Because she's already been faced with dozens of customers throughout the day hastily and greedily clamoring to check things off their Christmas list. Why is it worth it to donate items to a homeless shelter, release a child from poverty, or send a goat to a family in need? Because faith, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (James 2:17).

Every five minutes counts. Ephesians 5:15-18 says, "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit."

As Christians, we live in this "already-but-not-yet" tension. We have the hope of eternal life, but we haven't experienced heaven yet. We have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, but one day we will see Christ Himself face to face. Our citizenship is in heaven but meanwhile we live as strangers on this earth. Christ's death brought full victory over death and pain, but we fight every day against temptation.

In Lamentations 3 there is a beautiful passage:

¹⁹I remember my affliction and my wandering,
   the bitterness and the gall.
²⁰ I well remember them,
   and my soul is downcast within me.
²¹ Yet this I call to mind
   and therefore I have hope:   

²² Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
   for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness. 

God's grace is new every morning...and every five minutes. His well never runs dry. And I challenge you today: how do you need God's grace in this moment? What is one thing you can take thirty seconds to appreciate, simply because it's a reflection of God's goodness? Who is one person that needs caring for today? Life is too short to live in unforgiveness and bitterness. It's too precious to get caught up in consumerism and forget to slow down. It's too much about others to get distracted by our own problems.

It's likely taken you a few minutes to read this blog...what will you do with the next five minutes?