Make the most of every opportunity...

So every "good" writer creates anticipation and excitement for what is ahead right? Well I have a little something to share that will hopefully create excitement for stories that are to come. As I share these things on this blog it is almost like I am making a commitment to you all (though I am not even sure who "you" all are just yet) to stick with this, and not overlook the little opportunities I have been given.

Last night at JOURNEY (the church I go to here in Bend, OR) I sat next to a friend named Skip who I met at JOURNEY about a year or so ago. He is homeless and lives on the streets in a tent with one of his friends, and his other loyal companion and friend...his dog. He is what you would picture a classic homeless man to look like...long beard, dirty clothes, and always smelling a little like alcohol. For some reason I have been blessed to get to know him a little better than I know even some of the regulars at JOURNEY, and we always make a point to catch up with each other when we see one another. He also enjoys saying hi to my daughter, and the random hug she offers. You know the innocence of children is truly beautiful! If only we could all look at people through the eyes of children, and not see them through the lens that our society teaches us to look through...but through eyes that simply see a human, another person just like us. Man we have so much to learn from those precious little ones!

So as I mentioned, Skip sat next to my mom and I last night. After the service the three of us were visiting, and he was telling us where he is camped out in town now. Seems the police keep him on the move, as some of the locations he chooses to set up camp are not always the most appropriate spots for someone to be living in their tent. Skip tends to be a fairly private person in many regards, but I worked up the courage to ask him if he has ever shared his life story in writing. After the jokes about it taking months to write all the things down that have happened to him, he looked at me very seriously and told me he couldn't tell me about his life...it would be too hard for me to hear. After a little more talking and encouragement on the part of my mom and I he finally decided to share a piece of it with us...maybe he was testing us to see how we responded? Not sure...but what he shared broke my heart, not so much because of what I heard, but because of how I saw that it still broke his heart. Very bluntly he told us that when he was in "Nam" he killed a baby. He explained that he had no other option at the time, but hates himself for it and has never been able to escape the images of that act. Tears welled up in his eyes as he once again relived the memory of that horrific time in his life. I gave him a hug and told him I was sorry he had to go through such a difficult experience. In the end he agreed to meet with my mom and I next Sunday for lunch and at that time he will gives us the complete story. Then with his approval, I will pass that story on to all of you. I believe that it will be another story that will impact us all, and change the way we see the homeless around us.

That brief interaction with Skip last night encouraged me all the more that, even though someone chooses to live on the streets like Skip does, there is always something significant in their life that brought them to the point of believing that life on the streets is more normal than having a home and family--that life on the streets is safer than the alternative. For Skip it almost seems to me that in his heart of hearts he doesn't think he deserves anything better because of what he did to that baby. It is apparent it still haunts him today. May this little insight remind us to have a little extra patience as we come across homeless people in our day to day lives. I know when I hear all of Skip's story I won't be able to even imagine myself walking in his shoes, and will have a greater respect for the man he is and what has brought him to where he is today.

So now not only do you have Mike's story to look forward to reading, but Skip's as well. :-)

Blessings and love,
Ranae