To Anonymous

Dear Anonymous who commented on Richard's tattoos,

I was not going to respond to this comment, but after much prayer feel it is only right to respond on Richards behalf.  I think you totally missed the point of his story being shared and would invite you to go back and re-read it with a new heart and through the eyes of Christ. 

I feel Richard showed much courage in sharing his story with me, his hurts and pain and did so without anger or malice.  He was very gracious in talking about the people who had hurt him. He was very sweet and even though I have never been a fan of tattoos, I could most easily look over them to the sweet spirit behind them.  He would be much more attractive to me as a worker than someone who was not tattooed and had a wrong and ungracious spirit.  I told Richard if he came into my hospital room as a nurse with that sweet spirit of his and had gone through the dedication that it takes to become a nurse, I would have no problem with him being my nurse.

I also believe, and I say this with respect and love, that Richard showed much more courage in sharing his story with me and with the grace and respect that he showed me, than someone who leaves an ungracious remark hiding behind the name of anonymous.  I welcome any comments and views as long as they are clean, but I do not like the anonymous name.  If I am being vulnerable and my interviewees are being vulnerable, I would like to see my commenters being brave enough to stand behind their words. I would have appreciated it more that way.

I do hope you will come back and see this person with new eyes.  May you go through your day experiencing the grace, mercy and love of our Heavenly Father.

Praise be to God that He does not look on the outward appearance but at the heart!

Not More Than My Share

One of the reasons I wanted to write the stories of the homeless was to give them a voice and then for the rest of the population to hear and to better understand who these people are. 

There is a typical stereotype towards these people and yes, it may be true for some, it’s not true for all.  And for the ones that it pertains too, I want people to take a step further past their stereotype and see why this person may be the way they are, why they are where they are, and who they are. I want us to see them through Jesus’ eyes, not our earthly eyes.

Over the last two years of our blanket ministry, I have noticed something that amazed me.  Here are people who have nothing, or VERY little.  Some are out on the park benches at night, under bridges, in storage sheds in the middle of winter.  When I offer them the blankets and sleeping bags, if they are out in the weather, I want to give them more than one blanket.  What I hear all the time is, “I don’t want to take more than my share, you give that to someone who could use it.”  I’m thinking, who could use multiple blankets more than you?!”  They are not greedy.  They only take what they can get by with.  They are not used to having more, not used to having extra.

I think about the times I used to go shopping and I would see a cute top I really liked.  I couldn’t decide whether to get the white, black, or pink one so I would just get all three.  I didn’t need all three.  To be honest, I didn’t even need the one.  I know others out there would say that if we work, have the money, we should be able to buy whatever we want.  But I pondered as I looked at my full closet, just how much was needed.  Did I need to have 8 pairs of jeans?  Did I need to have the same tops and flip-flops in every color?  I may be able to buy them, but what could I do better with the money that was spent on the things I didn’t need. I could buy food for the food pantries and how about toiletries to go with those blankets?  Maybe I could buy 5 and 10 dollar food cards from the different eating places close by the homeless and give them away at Christmas time, or just anytime and say, “This is given with the love of Jesus.” 

When I think about the homeless people’s line, “I don’t want to take more than my share”. . .I looked in my closet and thought, I have taken more than my share.  And people don’t stereotype me. . .I don’t think they do.  These people get looked down on, ignored, called names because they don’t have a home, they may drink, they may do drugs etc.  I can tell you that in some of the best of homes, these same things are going on behind closed doors.  These homeless people have no doors to hide behind.  All that these people are, are out there for the world to see.  But we just choose to ignore or to just see the surface.  I want people to see further.

I want the homeless to be helped, given good gifts in the name of Jesus, given love and kindness.  I want them to know and feel God’s forgiveness and feel His love, His peace, His grace and mercy.  I want them to have more.  When it comes to the gifts I just mentioned, don’t you want more?  Do we deserve more grace and mercy and kindness and love than they do?  I don’t think so. Jesus stretched out his arms on that cross, and said “I have all this to give to you, all of me. I don’t want just my share here,  I want all of that, all of Him.  When we take all of Him, there is more than enough to give to others.  Let’s give the homeless more than what they think their share is.  It’s much, much more than they know.  Let’s tell them. Let’s show them.  You just never know how God will use that to change a life. . .and I’m not just talking about theirs.

In the process, we will receive a gift.   A gift that fills us up more than a closet full of colored tops and flip-flops.

(I realize that God will not direct everyone to minister to the homeless, he may direct you elsewhere and that is great!  I just desire for you to think and see differently in your heart about the homeless if you have had negative thoughts.  "God does not look on the outward appearance but at the heart."  How are ours looking?)

linking with



Voice of the Homeless ~ Matthew

Matthew is Richard’s buddy that came with him from Boston.  Just after I finished talking with Richard, Matthew came walking into the square.  He is also 20 years old.  He had just finished walking eight miles and was hot and weary but was willing to talk with me.  We found a bench in the shade.

Matthew grew up in a Christian home.  His father is a pastor.  He said his home was strict and he didn’t like all the rules. He was homeschooled from 3^rd grade on. He didn’t have many friends.  Later he told me he played little league baseball for about 6-7 years for the city teams.  I thought to myself that he got out more than he was saying.  My boys played little league baseball too and we were always out with practices and games and lots of boys!  He started to rebel as a 12 year old, sneaking out of the house at night.  There were a lot of homeless people in the town where he lived and he knew how to get to where they were.  By that time of night, he said a lot of them would be drunk and either passed out or had moved on somewhere forgetting to take their liquor with them.  He would find bottles of liquor and beer in the bushes and this is how he started drinking.  He also started smoking.  He became belligerent in the home.  When he turned 16 and got a car, his new found freedom made him even more rebellious, causing a lot of chaos in the home.  He was able to graduate early and at the age of 17.   His parents could not take his rebelliousness and chaos that it was causing in the home and told him to leave.  He became homeless for about eight months. I thought to myself, how ironic, that he first stole from the homeless, and then he became homeless himself.  What’s that saying. . . “what goes around, comes around?”

Once in awhile, friends would let him stay with them. I think he just slept on their couch because he said he did a lot of walking around at night going through trash cans looking for food.  Sometimes he would find some food and sometimes he would not.  He went a week one time without eating anything at all.  A fast he did not intend to do!   He said it’s difficult but you get used to it after awhile.

When he turned 18 he moved in with some other friends for a couple of months.  He then left the friends, got into trouble doing drugs and drinking and ended up joining a gang. He got arrested a couple of times, going to jail for a couple of weeks.  He said he knew a lot of the police officers in his town and they came to bat for him.  All charges were dismissed.  He was let go.

He got a job and wanted to straighten out his life.  But shortly after, he was laid off and found himself homeless again.  He and Rich had friends from Boston who had moved to Bowling Green.  These friends said they should come down here and stay with them for awhile until they could get on their feet. Two weeks later, they all got into an argument and the friends made them leave.  As you read in Richard’s story, a police officer told them how to get to the Salvation Army and this is where they are at the time I am talking with them.  They are just waiting to get the wire of money from Boston friends for their bus ticket.  I asked how much that was.  He said $178 for each of them.  I asked how much he had on him.  He said $30 in his pocket and $40 on a card.  I don’t have a lot of money to just hand out, but that is what I wanted to do.  I wanted to give him and Richard the bus ticket money, but that was just a little too much.  And I wonder, when I want to help if that is the best thing.  Maybe at times it is, and other times it isn’t. Maybe God has other ideas and I don’t want to step in and mess that up.  I decided to come home and pray about what I could do to help, if anything.

In Boston he said he panhandled and would get at the most $5.  That would take him to McDondals for something to eat and drink. He kept saying it’s tough, but you get used to it.  I offered to bring him some food and he said “No, I’m alright, I’ll be out of here in a few days.”  I thought as I did with Richard, there is a pride issue here and I didn’t want to step on that.

I asked how the interaction was from others. He said they were friendly down here in Bowling Green. 

He wants to get back to Boston, get a job, and get a place.  I asked about his dreams if any.  He said “Yes, I have dreams, I want to be in law enforcement, security and I want to try to get into the military.  He’s a big guy. I could see him doing any of these things.

He told me “There are always worse circumstances than my own. That’s how you get through the day, things could always be worse.  I’ve got a bag, I’m in a shelter, I have food there.  I’m better off than some.”  He told me about an older man in the shelter who was in the army and now he is back home and homeless.  Matthew seemed really bothered by that.  I was too!

He tries to stay positive. He seems to have a pretty good attitude considering his circumstances right now.  He became a Christian as a child.  But his teen-age rebellion got in the way and took over.  He said, “You just gotta learn from your mistakes and go on.” 

I asked if he still had faith in God.  “I don’t think about it much, just trying to get by day by day.” I asked, “Do you pray?”  “Not really”.  He said he used to, but its difficult thinking about it in the position he is in.  If only these guys could understand that just because life is difficult it doesn’t mean that God is not loving or that He doesn’t care.

I told him I am reminded of what the Bible tells us, that we are not promised an easy life, but that Jesus will walk through it all with us, that He will never leave us and that I hoped he (Matt) would not forget that.  He replied, “I’m just making it day by day.”

He is upset that people think homeless people are just lazy and don’t want to get a job.  He used to think that way about them, but now he has a different perspective.  “It’s not as easy as some think, people get depressed and that makes everything worse.”

He acknowledged again he is where he is because of his own choices.  “If you could go back and change things, do the last 10 years all over again, what would you change?”  He immediately replied, “I would change everything.  I would not be rebellious as a teen.  I would not smoke or drink again.”  I asked if he realized that the rules his parents had were for his good and not bad, and he said he knows that NOW.  He said if he could go back, he would live by the rules, knowing it was good for him.

I could not help but compare his story to ours.  Our oldest son, a sweet, loving, sensitive boy, at age 17 slowly started to change.  Over the next year, he came to where he didn’t like “rules” and didn’t want to be told anything.  What was once a very peaceful, loving home, became fueled with chaos and the rest of the family was becoming sick, physically and emotionally.  He had to make a choice and he chose to leave.  They don’t realize how heartbreaking it is for the family left behind.

Matthew was adamant about not having his picture taken.  I talked him into letting me just take a picture from the knees down, to show I was really sitting with him and talking with him.  He laughed and said, “sure, whatever.” 

My thoughts:  Matthew is also a very sweet guy.  I believe like Richard, he knows about the love of Jesus, but he has made choices that have led to a bleak situation now and I’m not sure but think he might be blaming God.  I had the feeling that he was more hardened than Richard and yet Richard told me a more heart breaking story.  I don’t believe I have heard the whole story of Matthew.

 I believe he and his friend Richard are like a lot of men, full of pride and want to be able to take care of themselves.  I offered both of them a sack of food and they both turned me down.  My mother’ heart did not like to think of these sweet, sad boys hungry, but I did not want to push.  After a few days, I may go back and see how they are doing.  After a few more days out there, they may feel differently.

I told Matthew before I left him that I was a mother and had sons close to his age and how much I loved them. I knew his parents loved him and had to be so worried about him and to please get back in contact with them when he gets back to Boston.  He just smiled at me.  I told him I was a mother and I just had to say that. I wanted to hug him too, but he backed away and said he was not a touchy, feely kind of guy and did not like that.  This mother backed off but told him I would be praying for him.  I believe he can make it too.

THE NEXT DAY~

I went back the next day and after talking with Richard for the second time, I talked with Matt just a little bit more.  I asked if there was anything else he wanted to share with me.  He got a far off look and then said “Yes, I’ll share something with you”.  When he was 16 years old, he went to work one summer at a Christian Youth Summer Camp as a counselor.  They would work all week at camp and then have their week-end free. 

One of the other young guys had a party at his house with drinking and Matt went, meeting up with a girl he knew.  After camp was over and everyone went home, Matt found out the girl was pregnant and it was his.  She lived at home with a father who was drunk a lot.  As she started to descend the stairs in her home one day, holding her 4 month old son, her drunken father got mad and pushed her, making her tumble all the way down the stairs.  At the bottom of the stairs was the front door with a long pane of glass on either side.  When she landed at the bottom, the baby flew out of her arms and went through the front door window and died.  She had a broken pelvis and back.

Matt was really affected by this. I put my hand on his back and told him sincerely how sorry I was. I noticed for a guy who doesn't like to be touchy and recieve hugs, he was not pulling away.  I asked how this had affected him and he told me it made him angry and sad and it was something he thought about every day. 

I couldn’t help but think if people would follow God’s Word and live the way He wants us too, so much heartache could be avoided.  I guess this has been going on since the Garden of Eden.

We went back over to the bench where Richard was sitting and I thanked them both for sharing with me and it had been a pleasure to meet them.  My friend Carolyn was with me this day, and so I asked her if she minded praying.  Richard, Matt, Carolyn, myself and Greg who had been sitting on another bench joined us.  We prayed for the boys to make it back safely to Boston, and for the Lord to provide for them and guide them in the way that they should go. Richard gave me another hug, and I told Matt it was alright, I remembered that he didn’t like hugs.  He stood up and smiled big and said, “Oh, come here, I’ll give you a hug”.  He was trusting me.  Again, a little warmth and compassion, and a listening ear goes a long way.

Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

(the boys made it back to Boston)

Voice of the Homeless, Richard~ Visit #2

(If you would like to read visit #1 with Richard, just type in the search button on right, Voice of the Homeless, Richard~Visit #1)

After visiting with Richard the first time, I wanted to talk with him one more time. I went back and found him the next afternoon.  He seemed pleased to keep talking with me. Maybe it was the cold Dr. Pepper I brought him.

I wanted to know what the father figure in his life was like and how it had affected him.    He shared with me again about getting the cancer when he was 5 years old and lost his eye.  The bills were enormous from cancer treatments; dad was already working three jobs trying to take care of him and his sister and wasn't making it.  Dad committed armed robbery but didn't hurt anyone.  This sent him to prison for a long time, most of the years Richard was growing up. 

Dad, after many years, was let out and moved to Virginia.  Richard and the dad talked on the phone every day for awhile. This is during the time Richard had been forced out of his home at 17.  The dad told Richard that he should come down and live with him and when he turned 18, he would hook him up with a job.   He said they would go hunting and do guy things like that together; something Richard had missed out on in his growing up years. I could tell Richard liked this. But then the dad quit answering the phone.  Richard would try again a week later, and then another week later and couldn’t find the dad anymore; he had just disappeared. 

I asked if his mom had divorced the dad after he went to prison and he said they had never been married. His mom said they never intended to. He found out while he had those brief phone talks with his dad that he had married after prison and now has a little family wherever he is.  "At least he’s a dad in somebody’s life", Richard said sadly.

Dad was not a believer in God and never went to church. Mom was a die hard Christian, always going to church, went to bible studies and women’s group programs.  I asked him what happened to her.  He thought she just needed to be in love and she ended up with the wrong guy.  "She doesn’t go to church anymore."

He said he definitely believed at one point but after everything that happened he lost his faith.  While he was in college for the short time that he was, he studied the bible in a class and he thought there were a lot of inconsistencies, contradictions, and fairy tale stories. He had even asked pastors questions, but he was never satisfied.

He has prayed a lot and has never heard a voice.  After becoming homeless at 17, he prayed asking for help, and he never got it.  He sees people getting help that don’t seem to deserve it and when he was down and out and trying to do the right thing, he wasn’t getting any.

I shared with my thoughts about how I believed God didn’t answer prayer until he heard the sinners prayer.  Why would he answer us when we won’t acknowledge him and who he is?  Richard believed at one time and had faith, but he never prayed, repenting of his sins, and asking Jesus Christ to come into his heart.  We can say we believe all we want, but until we step out in faith and the prayer is prayed, we are not saved.  You can say you believe and know, but Satan and his angels also believe and know.  Richard wants to see God and hear his voice.  I told him Christianity is based on faith and once you step out in faith, it becomes more real as you get to know Him and spend time with him and the more intimate that relationship becomes, you will begin to hear from Him.  Richard still wants to see and hear first.   He just kept coming back with how he asks God to let him know if he’s going to make it, is it all going to be ok and he just wants to hear that voice but it never comes.  Richard is telling God to come to him.  What he needs to understand is that God is already there.  God is just waiting for Richard to see Him with his heart.

"I guess I'm just on the fence."  He doesn’t want to say that he’s not a believer, but he’s having a hard time believing right now through the tough times.  Early in life he felt he was a strong believer and the first tattoo he got was a big cross with the face of Jesus in it.  That was a happy time.  But things started going bad and he started getting tattoos with upside down crosses in the pictures because he was angry.

I brought up the sinners prayer again and recited Romans 10:9-10. . . “If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  He didn’t want to do it when he felt he couldn’t believe it a 100%.  He felt if he took something into his heart not believing all the way, he would be hypocritical.

I hope I will get my faith back and my life will get back on track. Maybe this is all a test and if I pass, the doors will open up for me.”

I’ve never been a big fan of tattoos but I wanted to show an interest in what seemed important to him and I was curious about the tattoos, so I asked him to tell me about them.  The Gemini tattoo represents his zodiac sign. (I didn’t get a picture of this one)


He got the cross when he was 18 and was dating a girl who was into religion and she brought back his faith and kept it going.

They went to church together.  He was in love with her.  I’m pondering. . . He was relying on a person to keep the faith going.  His eyes were focusing on a person and not the Savior. Then she cheated on him three times.  He would take her back every time because he said, love is blind.  I'm pondering again. . .  he was forgiving of this person and love is blind but it didn’t work like that with him and the Lord.  Something bad happens and he gets angry at God.  She ran off with all his money.  He was mad and started hanging out with the tattoo crowd.  He said he loves art but more than that it’s like a shield where people cannot know who he really is.  He likes it that people can’t read him. And yet, he was happy to explain his tattoos. . .

The demon skull

was put on after he started getting angry at God.

The letters on his fingers, “self made”

represents the time after he was kicked out of the house, everything he had done after that he had done himself, done on his own.


The jaguar because it’s his favorite animal and his mom liked all the jungle stuff, (no pic)


the dagger through the head represents all the mental pain he has gone through, (no pic)

five eyed wolf

was a sign of strength and perseverance, to which he said, "I think this is what I have to get me through things."

 goat skull with upside down cross in it because he was angry

The woman with a blindfold over her face represents him walking through life blindly having no sense of what to do.(no pic)

(After a nurse told him he would not make it in the profession with the tattoos, he lost his goals and dream and was blindly walking around.)

Skull, candle and a rose : (no pic)
the rose represents the love he had for the two friends who died in the military, they were like brothers to him, the skull represents their death and the candle, he said represented the fact that their memory is always burning in his head. 



The tear drop under the eye is because of the sadness of losing his friends and family. 

Out of Step is lyrics from a band he likes and I believe the interpretation is in the words

Trust No One

represents all the times he was burned by friends and family.  His motto right now is be nice to people, but don’t trust them.

I asked him if he trusted me or did he think I was crazy.  He said, “I trust you, you are nice.  You get vibes off of people and I can tell you are nice and a good person. You’re doing the right thing.” He wants to load up his body with the tattoos. They are a shield.  Is he shielding himself from more pain I wonder?

I would have at one time been repulsed by these tattoos and I would have looked the other way.  But Jesus doesn’t.  He told us “Man looketh at the outward appearance but He (the Lord) looketh at the heart.  I think we need to be more like Him and look past the appearances to what is going on inside of someone.  We could be missing a chance of meeting someone incredible, someone who needs a listening ear that we can give, someone who needs to see that the human race is not all bad, and someone who needs to see Jesus, and that just might be through you.

I didn’t want to harp but it was important to me and I just needed to tell him to not give up on the Lord and to not give up on people, that we are all human but we are not all bad.  "I won't give up, he said, I just need to take it slow."  I told him I wanted him to have hope again and to be happy.  We sat in silence for about thirty seconds, and then he looked up at me and smiled, “I think I’ll pray that prayer some day, I’m just not quite ready yet.” 

He was prayed over and given a hug.

My thoughts:  Life is made up of choices.  His parents made choices that deeply affected their son.  In that heartache, Richard made some unwise choices.  Both of his parents let him down.  Then he fell for a girl, a supposedly Christian, who also made unwise choices and let him down.  I believe Richard feels like he has been thrown away by family, a girl he loved and by God. He feels God has let him down.  No wonder he feels confused and angry at Him.  But this is also a choice that He is making.  He could have gone in a different direction after he was forced out of his home, but he chose the route to get into trouble.  Even though his tattoos show anger and hurt, I could not get over the sweet nature I was seeing in this boy.  He didn't talk with anger.  He just wants to love and be loved.

 I feel for him.  He should have had a family who put him first, cared for him and loved him. I shouldn't say they didn't love him, I'm sure they do.  It just seems they have put selfish reasons ahead of that love. 17 is still a young age, not knowing how to take care of yourself and what to do when you find yourself out in a blizzard with shorts and flip-flops on.  I wish he had walked to a church.  I wonder if the church would have helped.  I’d like to think they would have.

He said he asked God for help but he never gets any.  I don’t think he is realizing it when it comes.  The police officer came to their rescue and led them to the Salvation Army.  Salvation Army helped by giving them a place to lay down at night and food to eat three times a day.  My friend and I were out there listening to them share things about their life. And when I went back a couple of day later to check on them, I found out they had received the money they were looking for and got their bus ride back home to Boston. As I was hearing him talk of never getting any help and remembering the officer and Salvation Army, I recalled one of my favorite books, 1000 gifts, by Ann Voskamp.  She is showing thousands of readers how to recognize the gifts from the hand of God, even through the tough times. I tried to explain this to Richard. I believe God is waiting for the invitation from Richard.  I also believe God is putting gifts out there for Richard to open his eyes more to the truth of who He is and to the love He offers. I pray Richard will begin to understand and his eyes will be more open to the gifts and even more so to the Gift Giver!

If only people could realize that God is not the enemy and blame him for the bad things that happen.  They don’t seem to ever put the blame on the real enemy.  It’s him who causes sin and grief to run rampant.  He is out there like a roaring lion looking for prey and Richard was a vulnerable target.  But God is stronger still, and with people praying, I believe Richard will come to accept the truth one day.  It may be after making more poor choices, but I choose to believe that the seeds that have been planted in Him will grow and flourish some day. I believe this young man could be something outstanding.  He just needs the right encouragement, to get on the right path, to go through the right doors when they open and stay away from the wrong doors. 

Lord, I pray that Richard will trust in You with all his heart and lean not on his own understanding; in all his ways that he will acknowledge You and that You will make his paths straight.  (from Proverbs 3:5-6)

Maybe then Richard can add a tattoo claiming he found the One he can trust for life!



Stirred Waters~Greg's Baptism

(if you are new here, Greg is my homeless friend I befriended over a month ago and have witnessed an amazing transformation. . .you can check out previous stories below the typewriter, bottom right of the blog, ex. . ."Praising God" and "Voice of the Homeless~Greg"


August 23. 2011, Greg repented of his sins and invited Jesus Christ into his heart.  August 28, 2011 Greg entered into the baptistery of my church and stirred the waters mightily with his big frame of a body and his enthusiasm of a changed heart; a saved heart.

While we were waiting for it to be time to change for the baptism, Greg spotted one of our charter members, Ms. Francis and made a beeline out into the hallway.  I stayed behind and just watched.

 They obviously new each other. They both seemed genuinely pleased to see the other.  They were both smiling big.  She was so gracious to Greg and rejoiced over the fact that he was getting baptized in our church in just a few minutes.  After a few minutes, I entered the scene and Greg told me had met Ms. Francis at Hotel, Inc. awhile back when she worked there. It had been quite some time, and yet they each remembered the other. 

Greg had been so nervous about the bigness of our church and ALL the people in it.  Wasn't it so gracious and loving of our Father that of all the people there, Greg spotted one he recongnized and knew from years ago.  I think this put him at a little more ease.

Keith, Greg and I sat in the prayer room waiting for it to be time to get ready.  Greg kept thanking us for being his friend, for talking with him and sharing without being judgmental of him.  "That goes a long ways" he said.

Greg was nervous but also very excited.  We had prayed for peace, and when Greg left to put on his baptismal robe, he said he was feeling full of peace.  

I sat in the pew right in front of the baptismal waters so he could see me.  God placed sweet friends with me on that same pew to hold my hand and rejoice right along with me.  I don't think any of us were breathing and tears of joy were flowing.

SO many blessings to list from the week, so here I go. . . 

park benches in the shade

being thanked just for listening

on bended knee with husband in prayer

cord of three strands not easily broken

the privelege of praying the sinners prayer with my friend Greg

younger son beside me witnessing a soul being saved

friends willing to go with me to interview the homeless

testimony sheets filled out

friends in church pew with me holding hands and hugging

seeing peace all over the face of one who had only known chaos

the pictures will say the rest. . .

buried the old life and raised into a new one!

Keith and I were also so proud of our church.  Greg had been going to a church of maybe 30 people.  We probably had over 600 people in this service.  Thinking of the crowd that would be there made Greg so nervous, but after praying with him, peace filled him up.  Our church could not have been more friendly to him and made him feel more welcome. The standing ovation, hooping and hollering and clapping wasn't so bad either!  Someone gave him the devotional, Jesus Calling and someone else brought him a brand new backpack filled with things.

The generosity overwhelmed him but he was all aglow with appreciation and joy.

He said he didn't realize there were so many good Christians in one place.

He's in a different world now.

Before the baptism Greg said to us,  "I've had an amazing week.  I normally don't think like

that.  All year I might have had a good day ~ but I've never had a good week."

Greg got in our car after the service and said "This will be a day I will never forget."

He also said later in the car, "This is the way to live, people need to live for Jesus."

We talked about what our pastor said in the service, that we believers are commanded

to go tell.  Greg shook his head in agreement.  He is going to go tell.

We have wanted to offer him things at different times, and he has always said "No, I just want you to

keep doing what you've been doing, just keep being my friend."

"You've got it Greg, we'll be friends forever"

And he's got a friend forever in Jesus

He may be homeless on this earth for now, but he has a mansion waiting

for him he can call home for eternity.

Thank you Father!

linking with