Week #40 - 3/26/13

It was a bittersweet day for our lunches today.  While we are SO excited that God has answered our prayers for Rachelle's employment,  she has to put her Tuesday involvement on pause for a while.  Dmitry and I will certainly miss having her there!  Her smile and joyful spirit have been such a blessing to us all!

We did have a bright spot downtown today though!  We saw one of our friends, Antoinette, that we have not seen in several weeks.  She has such a happy spirit.  It turns out she has had a friend to stay with for several months now.  She and Dmitry had a lot of fun today running back and forth and passing out the lunches to everyone.  They were quite a sight!  :)

Week #39 - 3/19/13

Have I mentioned on here how amazing God is?  :)  It seems whenever I have the slightest doubt about delivering these lunches every Tuesday or am just the slightest bit discouraged, He shows up, reassures me and nudges me forward.  Occasionally I will receive a complaint about the sandwiches being a PBJ instead of bologna or something else.  Silly, right?  Most weeks it is until the week that I have 10,000 things going on because we just moved that weekend, I'm running late and I've had to go back to the grocery store because the bananas were all green my first trip.  So this week what happens?  We have a man (that we've never seen there before) come over to us after receiving his lunch and thank us again and again for the lunch and then goes on to tell us that he was beside himself when he opened it up and saw that it was a PBJ!  Now some of you skeptics may play that off as silly or coincidence.  I will hold on to that man's gratefulness for the PBJ for many weeks to come!  :)

This week we also met Mark.  Mark was on his way into the library to use the computers to search for a job.  He had a coat on that the zipper was busted at the top and the bottom.  He had been seeking employment for quite a while unsuccessfully.  He had just received an eviction notice the end of the previous week.  He was supposed to start a new job the day before (Monday) that he got through a temp agency.  The company he was going to work for ran a 10 YEAR background check and saw a DWI on his record from 2007 and wouldn't let him come in to start.  He started to weep when we offered him a lunch and told us that he was at the end of his rope but this was the second time since Sunday that he felt encouraged by God.  We had the privilege of talking to Mark for a long time.  We even had a coat with us that we were able to give him (with a working zipper no less!).  :)

The moral of my story today?  Step out and do what He is asking of you!  It can be as simple as smiling at your cashier today or sincerely asking someone how their day is.  He WILL show up so be ready.  He may ask more of you when you ask that person how their day is (been there, done that).  :)  But how cool is it that the God of the universe is taking a moment for YOU!!

Week #38 - 3/12/13

Well, it's been a few weeks since I have made any entries on here but do not fear, we haven't missed our Tuesday lunches!  :)  Thankfully, Rachelle carried the weight of it all while I was MIA for two weeks in a row recently.  I missed the first week because we were out of town and the second week because I was home sick with the flu.  :(  THANKS Rachelle!!!!  ..and thanks to Sherry T. for stepping in the first week I was out and to Rachelle's hubby Justin for filling in the second week.  You guys are awesome!!!

As always, God is so good and always working on our behalf even when we don't realize it!  Rachelle has been earnestly seeking a job for quite some time now.  She interviewed for a specific job about 4 months ago and received great feedback, then crickets.  She heard absolutely nothing.  Until today!  We were driving downtown to our spot where we deliver the lunches when she received a call from a number she didn't recognize.  To make a long story short, it was the woman she interviewed with offering her a job!  It turns out that the woman has been going back and forth for months with her HR department trying to get Rachelle hired on.  What an encouragement for all of us today!  And such a great reminder that even when we may feel like God has pushed the mute button, He is still active and working behind the scenes to bring about what is best for us in His perfect time! 

Week #34 - 2/12/13

We made 30 lunches this week and they went fast!  It was cold (not bitter thankfully!) and sunny.
 

The relationship aspect of it all really struck me this week.  As soon as we got out of the car and started walking toward our spot our friends immediately began approaching us with arms extended anticipating their hugs.  :)  I wonder how often they receive hugs.  What if Tuesday is the only day?  I steal hugs from my kiddos and husband all week long and I can’t imagine it any other way.  How cool it is to experience!  I feel like God is sitting back and saying ‘I told you so.’  :) God laid it on my heart from the beginning that it would be important to reach out and touch these dear souls when passing out the lunches.  And here we are, 34 weeks into it and they are coming to us for hugs!

Now don’t think it’s all lollipops and sunshine.  Most of the time there are many that are intoxicated.  Sadly, we have heard about several of our ‘regulars’ in and out of jail over the last month or so.  It’s common to meet a new face…new because he or she has been locked up the last several months, or years in many cases and they have recently been released.  There’s lots of foul language and not all of our friends are the most kind and gracious.  I share this because this isn’t where everyone is called to serve and that is okay!

Week #31 - 1/22/13

This week was very fun!  Grace, my 4^th grader, was assigned a project in school where she had to choose a problem in the United States and put together a video presentation complete with interviews.  She chose homelessness.  Dmitry and I picked her up from school today and took her with us to deliver lunches.  Our dear friend, Joy Lorch, met us down there as well.  Grace was able to interview a few of our homeless friends for her project.  She also interviewed Joy who has a HUGE heart for the homeless and is always serving them in some way.

I am hoping to figure out how to upload Grace's video on here soon! 

Week #27 - CHRISTMAS

Yesterday was incredible!  How cool that Christmas fell on a Tuesday this year!  :)  Once I realized several weeks ago that Christmas was going to fall on a Tuesday I put the word out and started collecting coats, hats, mittens, blankets and $5 gift cards to Steak-n-Shake and McDonald's.  People were very generous and I was able to collect tons of winter clothing/accessories.  I also received enough donations to purchase $200 worth of gift cards.  I even had enough cash left over to cover bologna for sandwiches this week!  Ha!  It's a Christmas gift to my homeless friends...no PB&J!  :)

Honestly, I wasn't sure how my kids would react when I told them that Christmas fell on a Tuesday this year and I wanted all of us to go downtown just like I do every Tuesday to serve our homeless friends at the park.  They were overjoyed which was VERY cool!  Then when I mentioned it to Rachelle she was completely on board with her family and the entire Lorch family wanted to join us too!  My mom even came with us!!!

We were there for a few hours passing out everything we had collected from some very generous people, serving lunches and hot chocolate and simply spending time with our downtown friends.  It was a beautiful time and I could not have imagined a better way to spend Christmas Day!  

Week #23 - 11/27/12

Today was a good day.  We met Gregory, a Marine veteran.  We met ‘Uncle Mike’ who had been set on fire the night before in his sleeping bag for no apparent reason.  And we officially met Charles who we see often but had not officially met before.  They talked our ears off and it was awesome.  Lots of hugs by the time we were leaving.