Ziplocs full of Love

My friend Carol works in the city and sees homeless people every day. It breaks her heart. Someone she cares about was homeless for many years and only recently has escaped that lifestyle. The knows some of the struggles and also the worry that goes along with caring about someone out there on the streets.

Last year, just outside the parking lot where Carol parks daily, she noticed a homeless man and she thought about him when the weather got harsh. She began to pray for him and speak to him as she passed. She gave him bottles of water. Carol and her son made up a bunch of baggies full of the kind of things that she has learned homeless people can really use. She threw her first baggie full of stuff over the fence and told him her name. The next week she tossed another bag over and he told her his name. One day LaVern told Carol that she wouldn't be seeing him anymore. He had found a place to live. She saw him the next day then he was gone. She prays that he has found a home and a place of care. She continues to hand out Baggies of love whenever she encounters a homeless person.

Last night she brought assorted care items and large ziploc bags to our Circle meeting. She shared her passion with us and we helped her fill each bag with a bottle of water, a pair of socks, a granola bar, matches and a candle, a small container of applesauce and a plastic spoon, cough drops, a can of Vienna Sausages, a box of raisins, a package of cheese and crackers, a stocking cap and a pair of gloves. We each took two home with us to have in our car the next time we see someone in need of one.

Carol says she is no leader. Ah, but she is God's servant. She inspires me.

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.