Steam radiated throughout the air and sweat rolled down places my deodorant would never reach. I don’t know why I even bothered applying it that week because the putrid smells rising up all around me banished any attempt at hygiene.
I spent a week walking the streets of downtown Atlanta.
Armed with sacks full of PB&Js and water, we meandered through parks and side streets. We rode the subway and sat on curbs. We picked up trash, drug paraphernalia, bottles, and a host of unmentionables. Then we sat again.
Curled up on the curb, we made new friends with those who lived on the streets. We swapped stories, shared life, and broke bread. What started as an offer of a cold drink on a scorching day bridged the awkward gap that age, circumstance, and glaring differences might have otherwise divided.
It was on the third day that we met.
I saw her leaning up against a light post — alone, unkempt — with tension and burdens bound in her face and body language.
I broke the ice with my water and sandwiches. We exchanged small talk for a few minutes, but the Lord knew this was a heart needing to unburden itself, so I tiptoed deeper into conversation.
She looked into my eyes and responded, “You wouldn’t understand.” I translated her message as, “We have different backgrounds, different socioeconomic standings, different skin color, and more. I don’t want to talk.”
As I placed my hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes, our spirits joined. Slowly she opened up about her children. Specifically, her own beloved, addict daughter now giving her twin grand baby girls at just 19. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Unbridled emotion poured out, devastated with the hold that poor choices had over her daughter.
I put my arms around her and cried with her. I cried for her children. I cried for my own of the same age. I grieved over the stronghold that grips our next generation and I prayed. I prayed till my bones rattled and I shook my fist at the devil, “NO MORE! You cannot have our babies!”
In the midst of the bustling city, with horns blazing and smells polluting, this cracked sidewalk held two mommas sharing the same heartbeat.
Strangers moments ago, but now joined in longing, seeking, and storming the gates of heaven for the hearts of our children.
Everything in me wanted to fix this! To do something. To make her hurt disappear, but I couldn’t fix the situation. I was helpless. She was helpless. And at this moment in time, the Lord brought two helpless mommas to the feet of the Cross in complete abandon to our own inadequacies. I felt her suffering and she felt mine.
Our commonalities striking in the moment. Two sisters who are better together.
That week changed me in profound ways. When I wrestle through the root problems and struggles of street homelessness, I’m convicted of this. We are ONE BODY in Christ!
For me, being the hands and feet of Jesus didn’t just mean extending hands to the outcast on my terms and on my schedule. It meant slowing down enough to stop, to see, to hear, to empathize and to cross the great divide that society has manufactured.
When I slowed down, I met a dear friend that day. Her name is Carmen and I think of her often. I pray for her often.
The Lord revealed so much to me that week. In the midst of brokenness, I found beauty in every hidden crack and crevice. It’s there, every day. If we just seek it out.
Would you join me in prayer for Carmen and her family?
“Then the King will say to those on the right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ And the King will tell them, ‘I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'” {Matthew 25:34-40, NLT}
In our office, on our street corner, in our grocery store, let’s bridge this great divide.
For as long as we’re on this side of heaven, we’re all “homeless.”
Would you like a practical application for meeting the needs of homeless in your community? Make some Care Packages for the homeless.
by Jen Schmidt of Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
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Bev @ Walking Well With God says
Jen,
This is so moving. I am lifting Carmen up right now along with her daughter and the twins. May God put a hedge of protection around them and comfort them in their struggles. Bless you for reminding Carmen that, she too, is a beloved daughter of the King. Like Jesus, you stopped and you reached out and touched. She saw Christ in you that day. My mission field is the homeless, orphaned, and destitute children in Pakistan. In our country we don’t know persecution as Christians like they do in the Middle East. They need the Good News of Jesus Christ and the encouragement to continue to carry His cross amid life threats. I believe that anytime we come alongside another with compassion, the Lord’s heart is deeply touched. Thank you for this beauty amid the cracks and crevices…
Blessings,
Bev xx
Jen @ beautyandbedlam.com says
Thank you for the prayers, Bev. Your ministry to those in Pakistan is a powerful thing. TO have someone intervening on their behalf is such a beautiful things. Thank you, friend. xoxox
Penny says
Jen,
Thank-you so much Jen for bringing Carmen to light. My prayers are with her and her family. If everyone reached out and thought like you so many more lives could be touched.
Like you and Carmen or Bev and her students, my nine year old son responds,” Why wouldn’t I?”
Take care,
Penny
Jen @ beautyandbedlam.com says
Oh Penny, for all of us to have the heart just like your nine year old, right? SO pure, so intentional, never over analyzing or second guessing. That’s how I want to be every day. xoxoxox
JeanneTakenaka says
Jen, this was beautiful, convicting. It’s so easy to not look at the hurting people, the homeless all around us. It’s simple to have a cynical thought or two about those who hold signs asking for money to get from one place to another. Thank you for the reminder that God wants our eyes, and more importantly, our hearts, to be open to sharing a bit of hope and a lot of love with those who have nothing. Thank you also for reminding me/us that on this side of heaven we ARE all homeless.
I’m praying for Carmen and her family today.
Jen@beautyandbedlam says
Thank you, Jeanne – writing this was such a wonderful reminder to myself as well. It’s easy to fall into a relaxed mode once and become complacent. I learned a lot about the homeless population over the last few years and many are choosing this road, but there are also those that just need someone to listen, to hear them and for me, it wasn’t just about the homeless, but learning to lean into that hurt all around me. I’m constantly having to remind myself.
Bushcraft says
pardon my dumbness but what does PB &J stand for
Jas says
I think it’s American acronym for Peanut butter & Jelly (jam) sandwiches
Jen @ beautyandbedlam.com says
Thank you, Jas for letting her know.
Jen @beautyandbedlam says
Yes, so so sorry. I didn’t even think ahead to the fact that I should have written those words out in their entirety. Yes, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches. We shared them on the streets.
Jas says
I will pray for Carmen and her family tonight as I go to sleep. It must be so confronting of an experience but also satisfying to just help people and witness God at work as he brought you together. Homeless or not people are people we are all the same and all His children and all deserve and need his love and care. I hope the Lord has blessed Carmen changing her situation and that of her daughters. I hope he continues to change their life for the better and he continues to bless you also.
Beth Williams says
Jen,
Just prayed over Carmen her daughter and the twins. May God remove the addiction! I prayed that the devil would leave the mom and children –He can’t have them anymore!! Lord we need a miracle here heal them and put a hedge of protection around them!! Help them find the assistance they need to get back to life!!
This was moving!! Thank you for stepping out of your comfort zone and reaching out to those deserving yet overlooked people! Thank you for listening to Holy Spirit and digging deeper with Carmen! My mission field is encouragement. I try to send cards, letters, visit you, call, cook meals for you when you and your family is ill. I also donate clothes to be given away and food to food banks. I must do what I can when I can as often as I can to whomever I can! One day we will hear “Well done good and faithful servants”!
Blessings 🙂