One Week Later

A week has passed since Homeless For The Homeless, and I’m just now getting around to writing about it. In this case that’s actually a good thing though, because it gives me a chance to reflect on the event after the initial excitement has died down. The weekend was a huge success as far as raising awareness for and bringing aid to the homeless in our city go. If you are a “facts” kind of person, here are some of the numbers:

- Over 700 people became “homeless” for a day
- News coverage in The State paper, The Gamecock, and on local television
- Partnered with over 20 organizations that work with homeless people on a regular basis
- Over $11,000 was raised towards a master plan to end homelessness in Columbia

If you are a “stories” kind of person, listen to this account writen by Brandon.

“And as my thoughts went fleeting by, a little bit of heaven suddenly came crashing through to earth on the corner of Calhoun and Main. It started with Daniel and his friend, who are what can be best described as traveling hippie missionaries who are trying to turn all of their old natures over to Jesus, playing the jimbae and the guitar. And then Ms. Velma Anderson, an elderly African-American lady who lives in the projects, joined in on lead vocals singing her gospel favorites. And soon after, so did about two hundred other people, circling around them to clap and sing along. As the wind hit my face and rippled my nasty, sweaty shirt, all I could do was close my eyes and smile, thanking Jesus for being so good, for loving the lonely, the hurting, and the broken, and for little glimpses of His beautiful Kingdom here on earth.”

(For more stories, read the rest of his post here.)

And no matter what, you definitely should check out this AWESOME video of the weekend by Lauren Gossett. (sorry, but you must be on Facebook)

So… here I am a week later, wondering what to do with all that I have seen and heard. Do I just file the experience away in the Facebook/Blog/Picture/Video archives, or do I really let it take root in my life? I think Michael Bailey says it well on his blog with this thought;

“I hope this is the beginning of a lifestyle change for most of us. I hope that we would move towards lives that look more like Jesus; lives that love and care for the poor all of the time, not solely when our church puts on an event. My life isn’t like that yet, but I want it to be.”

Meet the Press

Dustin called me this morning, all excited, telling me that I needed to go get a copy of the State paper, that they had done an article on Homeless for the Homeless and it was on the front page! So I went out and got a copy, and sure enough the main article on the front page of the paper is about the event this weekend. You can see the article online here. Whats even more amazing is that the article very accurately reports what the event is about, including the spiritual part. It doesnt show up in the online story, but the block quote that was pulled from the story and highlighted was when Stephen said, ““I believe that Jesus gave up his life for me. It seems that he also said you need to take care of the poor.” Amen to Jesus getting the glory instead of just a group of people doing something positive in the community! Please pray for this weekend, that this event would bring even more attention and recognition to the name and love of Jesus!

75 Dollar Breakfast

This weekend I got to spend some time in the upstate, which is always good. Saturday I went to the Clemson/Wake Forest game with dad and Saturday night I got to see Nickel Creek at the Handlebar. (both were great) The title of this blog comes from Sunday morning when I went to breakfast with a friend at the IHOP on Wade Hampton Boulevard. A few minutes after sitting down and ordering our food, a waiter came around and asked if anyone was driving a Toyota Camry, because it was getting towed. I of course do not drive a Camry, but I glanced out the window anyway and to my surprise my truck was gone! Apparently it had already been towed before the Camry. (with no waiter-announcement) Bummer, huh? Turns out there is an area of the parking lot that is not actually IHOP’s, but an adjacent business’s. The no parking signs are posted pretty well, but when I pulled in there were 4 other cars parked there and I did not see them. Anyway – I usually take these kind of things in stride and was able to laugh about the whole thing and enjoy my now very expensive chocolate-chip pancakes. Fortunately another friend of mine was at the IHOP and offered to take us to the towing lot. So much for an inexpensive weekend in the upstate……

30,000 Feet

It doesnt seem like it, but I have been back from Brazil a month already. It never ceases to amaze me how trips like that can be such landmarks in my life. I would have written more about it before now, but to be honest I am still processing a lot of what has been going on in my heart and mind.

Most people who know me well know that I love flying. One of my lifelong dreams is to one day get my pilot’s license. One interesting thing about flying to me is how it changes my perspective on things. Places I go and roads I travel every day look completely different from the air. Of course everything is much smaller when viewed from 30,000, but occasionally I will even notice that something is different than the way I perceived it from the ground.

The same has been true of my trip to Brazil. This time more than the last, it has really changed my perspective on some things. On a very simple note, it has reminded me of how big God is. No matter how big and daunting the problems and difficulties of my life seem at times, they are small to God. He can handle them with ease. Why in the world do I worry and stress about them when a God who loves me has got it all under control?

So thats just the first of several things I have been thinking about since I got back from Brazil. I will try and post some of the others once they settle a little more in my mind….

Why I Moved Here

If you read Dustin’s blog then you have already read about this, but it was so exciting that I had to write about it myself. (by the way – I also copied his title) This past Sunday we had our second ever baptism service at our church. We rented out a larger building in town for the evening so that we could have everyone meet together instead of having 2 services like we normally do.

At our church, baptism is not at all a solemn occasion – it is a celebration! In the middle of all the busyness and routines of daily life, it is a “stop and smell the roses” moment telling about, and celebrating with, real everyday people whose lives have been changed by God. Forget religion, churchiness, christian culture, cool media, debates about “relevance,” and all of the (good and bad) stuff that surrounds the Christian faith in America today. This is evidence of the real, living God, doing what He does best – loving, healing, and restoring. Each time before a person was baptized, as their story played on the video screen, something stirred in my heart…God telling me, “see, this is what I am doing….. this is why you are all here….. this is why all the hard work and difficulty are worth it” and maybe even a faint whisper of, “this is only the beginning.”

And here is my favorite part of the evening….At the end of the service, a girl who is a student at USC came up to Dustin and told him that she had just put her faith in Jesus. One of her friends who is a believer had been talking to her about Jesus for some time, and all of a sudden that night God spoke to her heart. On a whim, Dustin asked her if she would like to get baptized right then. (Remember – this is after the service, and people were leaving, packing up chairs and equipment, etc.) So Dustin grabbed a microphone, shared what had just happened, and gathered everyone around the baptism pool. The girl and her friend then got into the pool with their regular clothes on and the girl was baptized as a symbol of her new faith!! You better believe when she came up out of the water, the place went crazy!

God is good. To him be the glory!