just another day

life downtown is never boring. i lay in the bed after a day like today and think "what have i been doing all these years?"

i wish i could remember everything that has happeend the last 4 months since moving to congress street, but there never seems to be time to sit down and capture it on keyboard. i'm gonna try my best. i don't want to ever forget what i get to be a part of, what i get to see, who i get the honor to love.

ms. linda showed up on the peach house porch about 2:00 today. I was in the middle of working, about to get on a conference call and planning on leaving for kosciusko. she needed help getting in a shelter. i asked her to stay on the porch, gave her some cold water, a bannana and a hug and i finished my work.

she is 51 years old. never married. no kids. got laid off from her job last year. lost her apartment. her car. all her belongings. been staying with family. can't find work. when her family turned her back on her jesus brought her to us. we helped her get in salvation army emergency shelter. they only allow you to stay for 14 days free then you have to pay by the week. she has no job, can't find a job, can't stay there. she had two options. find a womens shelter or stay on the street.

after trying to get the womens shelter we work with on the phone and not having luck, i took a chance and drove ms linda there. we got lucky because they had one bed availalbe. went through the whole intake process. best part about this for me was this scene - social worker asked her for her id and she laughs and says "you gotta make me go to texas!" aka.....dig down in her bra for it. hilarious.

go through all the rules, all the requirements, all the responsibilites. we went back to salvation army to get all of her personal items. i sat there and watched her pack up her stuff. everything in about 5 plastic grocery size bags. have you ever seen anyone move everything they have in 5 plastic grocery bags? when i moved here i had 5 car loads full of stuff. took us one trip down the stairs to get it in my car.

driving through jackson from one shelter to another. she had lots of stories to tell me. she has been in jackson her whole life. knows all the streets. all the stores. all the people. amazing lady i start finding out she is.

get her back to new temporary home. get her situated. i start feeling like the mother that takes her kid to summer camp for the first time. not real sure about leaving them there, want to make sure they didn't forget anything. don't forget to brush your teeth, be nice, write me etc.....i remind myself she is old enough to be my mother and this is not by choice she is in this shelter, all circumstance.

as i get ready to leave i have already made friends with the other women there. one randomly ask me to pray for her sister who is a missionary and her daughter who wants to be a missionary. seriously. so we all get out on the driveway, 4 strangers, and pray. i pray for julie, jackie, jennifer and laura. never met them in my life. what an honor. THEN. they pray for me. humbled.

i left that part of town headed back to this part of town. pass mario at the bus station, he waves to me. see chi chi in front of the king edward asking someone for money, as he always is. see third eye walking down amite street. yes, his name is third eye, or his street name is. which i don't really get because he really only has one eye. i can only imagine that the other one was forced out in a fight or by a knife or gun. turn down congress and see brandon and suanne in our yards. talk to them, give them hugs, love on them. come inside the peace house and remember i was supposed to have been in kosciusko 6 hours ago.

to the rest of the world i may be weird. but when you start conforming to jesus and stop conforming to the world, you are weird. i love being weird.