...I wasn't the one who was going to school the next day with hair looking like that.

We've been serving, I've just been lazy about blogging.
And not really lazy about it, just poor at setting aside time for it. I used to do it on Tuesday nights after we finished, which was good for consistency but tough for making it to the gym the next morning before school. Once I started doing it the next day, it became easier for things to come up and push it back. I don't know about you, but the further away from something I get, the less likely it is I get back to it. My intent is to improve on my promptness this year.


The meals for Christmas and New Years went well. Lots of help, lots to pass out. College kids were around and came back to help. e got moved into the pantry beside the kitchen, so we could finally bring our stuff up out of the Dungeon (the storage room under the Jail). The stand alone pantry had an internal shelf collapse and David Allegood grabbed some guys and repaired it on the spot. Much better now.


The past 2 months have probably been the longest string of really cold Tuesdays we've had. The low temps affect where we serve, how we serve and what we serve.  We've been passing out blankets, clothes and accessories every week.


COLLEEN / CECIL / SETH / ERICA / MILLER / BRIANNA / DAVID / SAMMY / ELAINE / SAM / HAMPTON / ELANA / JENNA / DAVID / CHUCK / CHARLES  / SHAWNA / TERESA / ANNA / TWIG / WAYNE / DON / TYLER / BLAKE / STEVE / TOM /  did a great job of spreading themselves out in the dining hall and interacting with our guests. 


CHILI   w/Texas Pete, cheese, sour cream. vinegar, and jalapenoes for toppings.
JALAPENO CORNBREAD
DESSERT
HOT CHOCOLATE


The jalapeno cornbread turned out sooooo good and was really easy. I like those kinds of things.


NOT SO QUICK STORY
We're in the dining hall and winding down and Don Vigus says "Gary, this guy says he needs a haircut!"
And the guy does. So I told him I'd bring my clippers next week and cut his hair. 
The only problem is I don't really cut hair.......I buzz heads. 
Big difference.
Big. Honkin'. Difference.
I don't scissor cut, I ask you what # guard you want and I just plow through. One length every where. 
And I can do that like a champ. This guy, however, did not strike me as someone who was going to want a buzzcut
So I was thinking about this the next day while I was getting ready for school. I figured if I cut one guys hair, other guys would want theirs cut, too. What about them?
When I have hair to cut, I go to a pretty nice Barber named Jeff. I wondered if he would cut our friends hair for a discount, like $10 bucks a head.  Then I was wondering how to get them there and when and blah, blah, blah....  and I had an idea.
There are a couple of places in town that have cosmetology courses. Students need hours and practice. If I could get several of them to volunteer one afternoon, maybe I could knock out a bunch of free haircuts at one time.
In the process of brainstorming all this, it dawned on me that I hadn't consulted God about it. 
I have ideas and sometimes, in addition to being dumb and goofy, they aren't always part of what God might want me to be doing. I figured I might want to slow down and pray about this one. And while it might be true God could have had something to do with planting the idea in my head, I still figured it best to pray. So I did and basically left it at "If this is something worthwhile and you want me to do, let me know. Somehow, someway today, show me that this is okay."
I leave out for school and roll through the day. It crosses my mind at different parts of the day but I'm not dwelling on it or looking for signs in everything that happens. In terms of signs, omens and otherwise deep meanings, it's actually an uneventful day.
Until.......
10:30 p.m. my phone rings. It's a friend of mine, the mom of one of the kids in Youth Group.
She says You're not asleep, are you?
No.
Are you getting ready to go to bed?
No, I'm a late-nighter.
We have a crisis here at the house.
When the house has a teenage son in it, the word crisis can cover a lot of ground. I start racing through things in my head, and then she continues.
I was cutting TEENAGE SON's hair and I've messed up and can't fix it. He said call you. Can you come over and fix it or just buzz it. He said you would know what to do.
Sure. Be there in 15 minutes.


It wasn't a lightning bolt epiphany.
I didn't yell "There's what I was looking for!".
At first I just found it funny and was amused at the situation........but on the way over there it started coming to me that on a day I had prayed for verification to try and organize something to get people's hair cut (even though I'm no barber), someone was calling me to come cut their hair (even though I'm no barber)!


And it got me thinking Did I miss any subtle signs somewhere else along the way today? Am I so slow, he had to bring me out in freezing temperatures at 11 0'clock at night to cut someone's hair for me to catch his drift? 


My best guess on that is, Yeah,... probably.


So I go over and we have a good laugh about the situation. We make the call to buzz it and I tell them everything about the idea and the prayer and seeing them calling as the way God was telling me it was OK to do it. 


As far as it being a crisis, i don't know if I would have used that word, but then again, I wasn't the one who messed it up and......