Things you could learn from a homeless man.

Last night I got home from meeting with 18twentysix at Denny's. (I like having church at Denny's, people look at you funny. Oh, and I like sausage.)

Anyway, it was like 10:30 pm and my wife didn't have a work uniform so I made a quick trip over to the laundromat. As I pulled into the parking lot I saw a man sitting on the bench outside. It was cold so he sat huddled up in his overcoat with his hood up.

As I walked by him he didn't look up. Once inside I found out that the change machine wouldn't accept the new $10.00 bill that I had so I ran across the street to buy a package of Sweetmint Orbit gum (I'm kind of hooked on that flavor right now) and get some change. When I got back to the laundromat the man had come inside and sat quietly huddled on the seat next to the change machine. I made change and turned to walk over to a washing machine. He looked up and said, "It's gonna be a good night tonight."

"Oh," I said, "Why do you say that?"

"I don't know," he replied in all sincerity, "I just got a good feeling."

That was it. I thought, here's a guy that is hoping to stay in this shabby 24 hour laundromat because he has nowhere else to go that is warm and sheltered. He probably doesn't have much money if any at all and he's looking forward to a "good night".

It just really struck me that he could be so optimistically confident and so, well, thankful. That was it, that's what struck the cord, he was thankful for the simple fact that he had a warm dry place to sit and be still, to feel somewhat safe and look forward to a little bit of rest.

It made me feel so selfish and unthankful for the incredible, incredible blessings I have. Last month was a little tight (and we spent too much on Christmas) so I had been fretting about that and here's a guy that is looking forward to a good night as a homeless man.

Yesterday my friend bought my lunch for me and so I ran back to the store and bought the guy a sandwich and some water. I figured if he was hoping for a good night I could, from my abundance, be a part of the goodness.

He looked up as I walked back across the parking lot, smoke hung in the air between us from his hand rolled cigarette, and his eyes lit up, or should I say his whole face lit up. He reached up and took the bag like I was handing him a million bucks. "Thank you, sir and God bless you."

His name is Alvin. I asked him and he told me, "Alvin, you know like the chipmunks," as he smiled.

Be safe, Alvin, and I hope you stay warm. Thank you for reminding me about being thankful.

It's Easy To Tear Things Down.

They tore down a church in Collinsville the day before yesterday. The day after Christmas. I'm not sure who "they" are, but they had huge bulldozers and cranes. I had seen the heavy equipment a few days before and thought I may be able to get some photos of the building going down. My wife had to be at work at 7:00 am and I went to Panera to have some coffee and work. I got back to the church at 10:00 am and it was gone, completely leveled except for the sign and a couple of wall portions.

All I could think of was how easy it is to destroy things.

I had the opportunity to help build a church in Odessa, Texas. We started with a big piece of land covered with mesquite trees and rocks and spent several years building a large building that still stands today. To think that this building was probably built by men and women who felt like they were doing the work of God and in just a blink (in comparison) that building was reduced to a pile of rubble.

Today I passed by and they were ripping up the foundation, tearing out the basement and even removing the parking lot. In a week it will be as if the church building had never existed at all in that location and in a few months there will probably be something else there.

It seems sad, to me, to see all of that effort erased in a matter of hours. At the same time, though, I know that the Church is not a physical location, but a body of believers that can never be destroyed by "them."