Yesterday, my schedule opened up and I used the time to go enjoy lunch with my husband. Even though he works only a few miles from home, we don't have lunch together often. So, we enjoy those days when we are able to have that extra 30 minutes together.
While we were eating lunch, the sky turned black, the winds started to howl and the rain came down in sheets. We were having one of our first big thunderstorms of the seasons. It was in and out within 30 minutes. Driving home, the winds whipped the car across the road. The rain was coming down so hard, I couldn't see the lines on the highway.
The wind was horrible. A few houses down our road, the wind tore the siding off an older farm house and littered the yard and fields next to it. We've not had a lot of bad weather here and God willing, we won't either.
This isn't really what this is about.
Just passed where my husband works is the police station and homeless shelter. It's really common to see people walking up and down the road. They are either going to the shelter or to the police station for court or probation checks.
I'm not going to lie, some of the characters look pretty sketchy. A lot of the people heading to the police station have lost their license and are down on their luck.
Homeless people and those walking to the police station are certainly not something I am used to seeing. There may have been homeless people in our suburb, but we never saw them. All of the homeless shelters were in the inner city. When we saw people walking, it was for exercise or kids who couldn't yet drive. Even though it's a much smaller town, its something that we aren't used to at all.
Because I lived in the city for 16 years, I am conditioned to not pick up strangers. Since I have a general fear of strangers, I likely wouldn't anyway. But there are times when seeing these people breaks my heart.
I don't ever think that they deserve that walk of shame. I never think that caring for them lies with someone else. I never look down on them. I pray for them. My heart aches for them. I often want to be able to help them or offer them a ride. Being a female and alone, I know it just isn't safe to pick them up about 95% of the time.
Then there are the other 5% of the time. Those are the times that I don't stop because I'm alone, but I should. I don't really know how to balance my own safety and do what is right.
Last summer, I saw a couple ladies walking the stretch of road who were very pregnant. It was hot and I wanted to give them a ride to help them out. Most of them had scary looking men with them. I now that shouldn't have been the deciding factor, but it was.
Today was another time. It was a man. I've seen him before. He has no legs and is in a wheelchair. He was about four blocks from the shelter in the middle of the storm. I know I couldn't have helped him in a way that was safe for either of us. He would have needed some lifting for himself and his wheelchair into my car. I don't have the upper body strength nor the back for that.
But why did everyone else pass him by? Men in trucks, one by one, passed him by and even splashed him with water from pot holes. Even a police officer passed by without stopping. My heart broke for him. I don't have a clue what I could have done. The only thing I could have done was stand in the rain with him.
I know in this, my heart is firmly grounded in the Word of God. The bible says whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me. When you refused to help the least of these, you were refusing me.
An older man with no legs in a wheelchair is the least of these. How can I be the hands and feet of Jesus to these people? They need it. They need to know that regardless of their mistakes, despite their circumstances, they are loved. Just because I live in my own house doesn't mean I am better than them, it means I am prepared to love them in spite of what the world has done to them.
I'm praying for a clear direction. Not so I don't have to feel the heartache, but so I can show these people love.
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