just a pencil

I think kids are often just natural at helping others. Yes, they might stare when we would know not to but they ask the questions... They treat people like people. That's all. Jodi at Looking Beyond the Cracked Window wrote this:

There is one man who lives near the malls, he sits on a bench with his cart and stuff...One day the kids and I were going into a store, and the kids said hello...Otto, bold little man, asked him what he needed most...The man said a pencil. The teen asked why a pencil, he held up a crossword puzzle from a discarded newspaper (covered in wiped off garbage) and stated his pencil broke.

We went on our way, and yet the man stuck with me. The thought of here I am spending frivolous money, not that there is a lot of that, yet truly what is the importance of just shopping.

The Teen, bored as we were not anywhere near a store that interests him, asked for twenty bucks and stated he was going to head to another store.

All done with shopping, I headed out with CJ and the Diva, to find The Teen and Otto walking across the parking lot towards this man. At first, my gut reaction was to yell, "Hey guys!", yet, I did not and waited. I calculated in the span of 5 seconds a game plan, should anything go awry...(Damn judgments)

I slowly walked towards them and watched...I could hear them chatting with him again, The teen started to hand him something, I strained to see...

Oh My... Otto and The Teen handed this man, a box of pencils, a sharpener and a brand new book of puzzles! The man was shocked and at first didn't want it, as he was afraid they would be in trouble. That was when I reached them, "No, no trouble."

The man sat there a bit dumbfounded. I quiet settled over us at that moment, a quiet that led to awkwardness. "Okay, you guys ready?" And we turned and began to walk to the truck, when I heard, "Hey lady!"

Glancing over my shoulder the man, looking into my eyes, just said, "Some kids you got there."

I smiled said thank you...
We sat in the truck for all of two minutes..All quiet. Not easy with four children on a shopping rush. All I could say, without letting that knot in my throat loose, was, "I love you guys."

And the day moved on....

Yeah....Some kids I got here.

We've all had our Moments

I just saw the video by Emerson Drive of their song "Moments". I found it to be quite moving and it got me to thinking...

We all fall sometimes. There are times when we want to give up or give in. Why don't we? What makes us so different? I don't know... I only know why we are the same.

God loves each and every one of us and life is worth living, if for no other reason than that. We all have value. We are all loved.
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The lyrics to "Moments":

I was coming to the end of a long, long walk
When a man crawled out of a cardboard box
Under the E. Street Bridge
Followed me on to it
I went out halfway across
With that homeless shadow tagging along
So I dug for some change
Wouldn't need it anyway
He took it lookin' just a bit ashamed
He said, You know, I haven't always been this way

I've had my moments, days in the sun
Moments I was second to none
Moments when I knew I did what I thought I couldn't do
Like that plane ride coming home from the war
That summer my son was born
And memories like a coat so warm
A cold wind can't get through
Lookin' at me now you might not know it
But I've had my moments

I stood there tryin' to find my nerve
Wondering if a single soul on Earth
Would care at all
Miss me when I'm gone
That old man just kept hanging around
Lookin' at me, lookin' down
I think he recognized
That look in my eyes
Standing with him there I felt ashamed
I said, You know, I haven't always felt this way

I've had my moments, days in the sun
Moments I was second to none
Moments when I knew I did what I thought I couldn't do
Like the day I walked away from the wine
For a woman who became my wife
And a love that, when it was right,
Could always see me through
Lookin' at me now you might not know it
But I've had my moments

I know somewhere 'round a trashcan fire tonight
That old man tells his story one more time
He says

I've had my moments, days in the sun
Moments I was second to none
Moments when I knew I did what I thought I couldn't do
Like that cool night on the E. Street Bridge
When a young man almost ended it
I was right there, wasn't scared a bit
And I helped to pull him through
Lookin' at me now you might not know it
Oh, lookin' at me now you might not know it
But I've had my moments

Choo Choo

I never met him but I heard about him. Choo Choo. He was one of the regulars but would come and go, as with so many of those who choose this lifestyle. Not everyone who is homeless chooses it. Many are thrown into it and can't dig out. Some of them like the freedom or have grown to know it so well that there is comfort in it. I have learned that many of our new friends take great pride in their survival abilities.

Several weeks ago we had a long cold spell. The temps were not above freezing for days on end and dropped to the single digits every night. It must have been terrible trying to stay warm during that time. Choo Choo didn't. We got word that he was in the hospital with frost bite. Then we heard that they had to amputate his toes. Then he was released and no one knows to what or where.

It is our hope that he has reconnected with a loved one or possibly the Veteran's Hospital. Please keep him in your prayers as he readjusts to a new life... wherever he has landed. God Speed, Choo Choo.
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“Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him.” -- Ralph Waldo Emerson