May 3, 2022
Tonight’s theme could only be, Grace. Our outreach team would like to give thanks to Our Father, Who art in Heaven, and in our hearts, in boxes in my van, and behind the sunken eyes that reflect a spark of hope from the bottom of a black hole. I have seen God everywhere in the darkest places of Detroit. Hallowed be thy name on the lips of the man leaning against a gas station wall. His chin was all the way to his chest. Traci and I mentioned it to the other teams, and Andy was already on his way to approach him. Marley packed him a meal and grabbed him a Mag Bag. When Traci came up to him and presented him with these gifts of unconditional love he immediately praised God over and over again. Thy kingdom comes to a lonely man who everyone else would rather walk by than acknowledge. Is it because they are ashamed of his helplessness,or their own? When Thy will be done, I am the good Samaritan that Jesus referred to in Luke 10:35-37 (NIV) It is inserting care where there is an immediate and genuine need. It is compassion for a person’s human experience. The Kingdom of God On Earth, it might not always look like you imagine it As it is in Heaven.
We went through all 44 meals, and 2 cases of water in just a few hours. I put 119.1 miles on Maggie tonight. She held 60 Mag bags, 4 huge bins filled with warm clothes and coats, duffel bags of socks, and our last few blankets. We gave away our last 2 tents, and 8 cans of mace. Someone told me tonight that the homemade desserts were heavenly. He gets excited when he sees us because he knows he gets a homemade treat. He knows God remembers him, too. We appreciate it every time God gives us each day, just Our daily bread. Just enough to survive. Just enough so that you feel like the world wants you there.
The Street Outreach Team was off on another mission tonight. This evening Magdalene’s Mission drove around with the harm reduction team. We met up with a lot of shelter challenged individuals very quickly. There are a couple of new groups of people we have been recently introduced to and I absolutely adore them. My favorite senior lady told me tonight that she is a great-grandmother for the first time. Her great-granddaughter is only 2 days old. She was so proud, she just beamed!
God was so good to her, she said.
The volunteers discussed how much we love being around the people we see who live on the street. They are some of the kindest, gentlest, generous, compassionate, considerate, brilliant people. There is no judgement between us. They Forgive us for our trespasses, mistakes, and former selves. So, we forgive them, and ourselves, for having human experiences, As we also forgive those who trespass against us. Because at the end of the day, if you have a bed to sleep safely in and access to food and medicine, then everything else is usually an inconvenience.
The Girl Who Always Reads just finished my book. She said she really liked it and she wants to read it again.Then she asked if it was okay if she passed it around to some other people she knew so they could read it, too. I told her that would be my highest honor. That’s exactly what I hoped she would do.
I learned about all of the products and items that are in the back of the harm reduction cars. There were items I didn’t even know existed. Things like, fentanyl test strips! By the way, I have access to them and also to Narcan. PLEASE ASK ME if you want them. I don’t care why.
“Dead People Can’t Recover”
But a Pastor’s wife can be an alcoholic and recover. And so can a drag queen. I’ve met successful millionaires who were hard drug users, and also a man who owned a million dollar business, never used drugs. Both still wound up homeless.
We all want to have stoic willpower. We all wish for formidable foresight. We aspire to be not just self-preserving, but self-improving. We want to have lives that give us righteous intention, and to have healthy coping mechanisms that Lead us not into temptation. Trauma can break a person wide open. Addiction can attack the most famous actress in the world. Or the worlds best musicians. Or your neighbor. Or your loved one. Maybe even you. We are not perfect. It is unrealistic goal for any human. But, Lord, I pray, deliver us from evil. So that we can at least have the best of ourselves to offer this phenomenal world.
Because that’s how we do it in Detroit. Amen.
#peaceloveandhygiene #magdalenesmission
