Homeless around Church

It's amazing how God divinely puts people together.

I went to church early today because I was supposed to attend the PC meeting for my college ministry. So an hour before the meeting time, 5:30pm, I headed off to McDonald's to grab something to eat. Arrived at the drive-through menu and ordered myself two double cheeseburgers with big mac sauce, a small order of fries, and a medium coke. Drove towards the nearest parking space after receiving my food and began to munch away at my lunch/dinner meal.

After I was done, I remembered the homeless guy that sat at the Broadway exit asking for money or help. After I was finished with my small meal, I headed inside McDonald's and ordered a #1 Big Mac combo large with a coke. On my way out, some random man asked me if I knew the area well enough. I said sure.

He asked me for directions to Alhambra and explained a story about how he got into the situation he was in. Intuitively I knew that the whole story was told to prove that he wasn't just some homeless dude. In the end he asked for a couple dollars for gas because that's part of the reason why he was stuck here. His name happened to be Lucky. Ha... So we say a quick prayer and we both head off in our opposite directions.

I go towards the spot I last saw the homeless man. He's not there. Oh man, what am I going to do with a large big mac combo?? I asked God to just guide me to whereever He wanted to lead me. After several turns here and there and going around the block, I end up at the 76 Gas Station because I see a homeless dude. I park my car in a parking slot, and I just observe him as he goes around from car to car asking people for money. I eventually go towards him and ask him to follow me. One of the gas pumping men said, don't give him any money because that's all he wants. The homeless man replies, ha! he's not giving me money, he's giving me food. And the older man said, well make sure you just get him food then don't give him money.

So I hand him the big mac combo and ask him if he knows the Lord. He says he does and that being homeless was just his calling. Even though he's witnessed a death of his homeless friends (his throat got ripped out) and he even met his friend's killer, he still had faith in the Lord. And he says, let me tell you something, i may never see you again on this earth, but i'll see you again in the next life. I realized all these random people I have met, whether homeless or not, all seek God for help. And all homeless I've given food to so far, just so happen to be Christians. I find out his name is kenny, but the best part is yet to come..

So as we are about to leave and we pray, one of his homeless friends comes up towards us. Him with the big red, yellow, white bag in one hand and a massive white drink in the other, looks like he just got some gifts, compared to his dark skin and dirtied clothes. And before I can say ˆanything, kenny says I'm going to share this with him.

And at that point I'm so overwhelmed. The parable of the lady with the small coin offering comes to my head. To see that, this homeless guy, who probably hasn't had a whole big meal in a while, his first instinct when he gets some is to share it with another homeless guy. This whole time as the other dude approached I was thinking of what to say, whether to tell him to share it or not. And on his own he felt compelled to share it. It struck me that a homeless dude who would probably want to eat the food all for himself is willing to share the very treasure that he has, and yet many of us, fortunate people, are so selfish and won't even share the littlest of things with others.

A homeless is willing to share the very thing that he treasures. But what struck me the hardest was the way they understood the concept of everything that they received was truly never theirs. And the quote "he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, gains what he cannot lose." And I realize us here a lot of us are stingy with not necessarily only our money, but also our time and our service to one another. Even time in this life was given to us by God, and it is something that we cannot keep. Time is something that keeps slipping through our fingers as we try to grasp it.

Anyways, take from this what you want, but the Lord created this divine adventure. Lucky & kenny, may God protect you and give you peace. May He guide you to His path and towards Him. In Jesus Christ's name I pray these things, Amen.

God is good. All the time. Hallelujah, amen.