it's the little things

Tonight I had my first 'homeless person experience'.

I was at a cookout/dinner event with some friends in the downtown area and a homeless woman had caught a ride with one of my good friends, and she eventually needed a ride back to a gas station so that later that evening she could go sit in a hospital lobby where she is apparently allowed to stay at.

These past couple weeks and months I've been really searching for ways to reach out to the world. For a while I was dead set that it had to be somewhere foreign and exotic. I suppose I forgot about the hurt and need in our own community. It recently dawned on me I didn't have to travel to Peru or Mexico or some other such place to make a difference in someones life, and that there was more than enough work that needed to be done here.

So, my past paycheck I tucked away a few dollars in cash so that I may hand it out freely to anyone who God had pressed upon my heart, and finally this evening those few dollars and few words of prayer really payed off.

A friend and I (this friend happened to be a big strong male, worry not. =P) gave her a ride in my car. We drove her to the gas station of her choosing, and while there were the occasional awkward silences during the ride I could just feel, and I just knew that what we were doing was right.

We prayed over her; she mentioned she had arthritis in her back (I'm not sure if that was merely a tale she wove...she was not quite right in the head.) and was in some pain, and sent her off a few dollars richer.

(YAY STUPID NARRATIVE NOW ENTER REALLY DUMB PART WHERE I TRY TO TELL THE INTRONET ABOUT WHAT I LEARNED FROM THE EXPERIENCE!!!)

She was quite crazy. Not to be stereotypical. Not to be harsh. But she really truly was. And there is absolutly no blame in that whatsosever, she's probably led a rather solitary life etc. and eventually it wears you down. But I learned, or at least, my eyes were opened to the fact, that I need to be more understanding and not filled with so much condemnation.

It's not my place to judge, it's not my place to condescend. It's my place, and my duty, to lend a hand and a loving heart.

It's the little things that make a difference. And it's the little things that show love.

Show love.

Do the little things.

Even if you have to sacrifice.

Just to know that you made another individual comfortable or happy or even just smile, thtat should just be the best thing ever for you. Every single person in this world needs someone to love them.

So love the loveless.