I don't give a rat what the Groundhog saw........

......tonight was Cold and Wet. Nice Combination.
We ate inside last night at the first stop, so that meant I took up my spot outside on the sidewalk letting people know we were doing it inside. And like I've said before.....I like being outside when it's like this. The rain makes everything shiny and slick and the cold gives you a sense of urgency. There's no in-between meandering in the cold. Point A to Point B and no stops.
I usually speak to everyone that walks by, regardless of whether I think they are coming to us or not. It paid off tonight. A couple came by walking a dog. That would indicate they live nearby and don't need us. Plus, I didn't remember them ever coming before. I said Hey how y'all doing tonight? just being friendly.
They said Fine and kept on going, but then stopped and came back and asked if this is the place where they could get a meal. I said It is! We're just inside tonight. So they went in and ate.
I don't think they would have asked if I hadn't spoken first.

Here's what they ate:
MEAT LOAF
MACARONI AND CHEESE
GREENBEANS
BREAD
DESSERT
SWEET TEA/WATER

I'm starting to think that Meatloaf might be everybody's favorite meal. It used to be cheeseburgers, but we haven't done them as much lately. But when we do meatloaf now, people really, really, say how much they like it. We give a big slab of it, too. The last few times we've done it, deer burger has been the meat we used.

Meatloaf has got some things going for it.

1. It's a comfort food, and it's usually accompanied by other comfort foods. You never see Meatloaf on a plate with a salad and baby carrots. It's mashed potatoes, mac'n cheese, beans, gravy, etc.

2. It's baked, so it's got a crust. Crust is good. There are some things where the crust is the best part. Pot pies. Pound Cake. Fruit Pies. Anything with cheese on top that gets browned. And Meatloaf.

3. And the glaze on top. mmmmmmm.....glaaaaaze.



ALYSSA / ERIN / BRIEN / TERESA / ANNA / TWIG / MITCH / MO-GAN / CREEEECH! / ALEXIS / ALEXANDRIA / PEYSON / MERRITT / HAMPTON / CECELIA / KILLER / JOHANNA / ELAINE / JASON / JENNIFER / BOONE / SAM / J.BOGGS / TYLER / MARK /



It's easy to place people and situations into the same boxes over and over and fail to see them as rounded or 3-dimensional. I don't do it on purpose, but I still do it sometimes. Then an event occurs that snaps me out of my rut and forces me to think of people and situations in a new way.

Like this past week........

I was at school and went into the office to check my box. I walked through the main office and saw someone I knew. We saw each other at the same time and instantly recognized each other, but it was weird because we weren't seeing each other in the place we were used to. It was one of the Tuesday night guys from the Mercy House. He looked different; I usually see him after 9 right before he goes to bed, it's a parking lot under a street lamp and he's usually in shorts, a t-shirt, and no shoes.

Here he was dressed and it was daylight and a whole different setting.
When I see our guys around town, I make it a point not to reference Tuesday night unless they do. They might be sensitive about it and it doesn't have to be the only thing we have in common. When I saw my friend in the office, I pretty much knew what he was there for. Parents come to school for 2 things. Checking in/out, or discipline. I said something like Hey, man, what are you doing, getting your schedule changed?

He said No, I came up here to get my daughter straightened out.



And just like that.....a new layer gets added and I think of him differently now.

This is a guy I talk to every week. Who always stops and makes conversation, someone I notice if they don't come out to eat. A guy I like.
But I never thought about him having a teenage daughter at my school.

How tough is that?
It's one thing to be in a situation where you find yourself out of work and living in a men's shelter trying to get your life on track and broke off connections with family and friends. But what about having all that in the place you grew up, with your wife and kids nearby? With a kid in High School? It's gotta be tough to go to the school where the admin and the counselors know your situation, and you're going because of troubles your kid is having at school. He's probably worried about what his kid thinks of him, and not exactly feeling like Super Parent. Most kids with normal situations hate being seen with their parents at school. Wonder what his daughter was feeling?



I thought about it all day after I left the office and a lot since then.
He wasn't at the Mercy House stop last night so I didn't get to talk to him about his daughter or the situation.

We always tell the kids that everybody that comes through the line on Tuesday night has a story. About how they got to where they are. About what's keeping them where they are.We also tell them that we get a very narrow slice of their life each week, and that we need to pray for them during the 6 days and 23 1/2 hours between the times we see them. The good news is that God hears that prayer and covers that period for them the same way He does for us.

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