Lunch time is a fun time for me. I often head out to see who I can show love to. Today I was going to meet an old friend of mine, Jeremy, and hang out at the park. But on my way, I noticed a homeless man walking along 29. I recognized him from a couple years ago, when I gave him some food and prayed for him, but I could not remember his name.
I have been striving to live out what Jesus commanded in Luke 6, "Give to EVERYONE who asks, and from him who takes away your goods, do not even ask for them back." I made a commitment a while back to do just that. It has been a blast. I and my girls know one homeless man around here pretty well named Michael. We have given him prayer along with food and money countless times and now also give him rides when possible (he got very excited when he heard we had air conditioning!). Michael often hangs around Hamilton and Cedar Crest holding up a small cardboard sign which says, "Will work for food."
I also know a man named Claude. He is different from the other homeless guys. He walks along with an easy swagger, as if he is always the most content man on the face of the earth. He does not associate with the others in the homeless community (he says they are always begging and getting in trouble with the law), but is just a contented homeless loner. I most often see him walking along Cedar Crest.
But today when I saw this man again, I knew I had to stop. So I raced to the park and picked up Jeremy and we headed over to Weis and picked up baked beans and water. We found him still walking along 29 near Emmaus. It turns out his name is Cisco. We were able to pray with him and give him the food. Jeremy even gave him some cash. Then we left and he waved to us as we drove away.
There is nothing more fun than helping someone out. The more I learn the scriptures, the more I realize that it is never wrong to love. We feed the hungry, give to those who ask, love and encourage those who need it. That is the redeemed life, and it sure is a blast :-).
