it's that time of year again

the one where i hate to ask for a donation, but since it's for a great cause i'm putting it out there anyway.

last year a friend invited us to be a part of a hike for the homeless here in nashville

we joined, thinking it was a good cause, and the hike was really enjoyable.  and TOTALLY family friendly.  if you're in the nashville area, message me and i'll give you some info about being involved!

the hike is this saturday, november 5.

i'll be hiking with a jogging stroller this year, since i will be with a 4 and 2 year old all weekend.

but really, what i'm doing doesn't matter.

there are so many homeless families in this area, and my heart aches for them.

perhaps it's because for all practical purposes i should have been one of them last april.

i had enough of a support system that i had several choices of places to go when i lost my house due to a mortgage company screw-up.

but not everyone is blessed with the quality community and network that i have.

i want to scream when i hear people casually dismiss the entire homeless population as lazy, irresponsible, substance-abusing, and not worthy of time or money.

it's simply not the case.

in the last few months, i've found that God highlights people on the street to me.  sometimes it's to make a donation (most of them are vendors for the homeless newspaper).  other times it's to have a conversation, to encourage them and to leave with tears in my eyes.

the next time you encounter a homeless person, instead of averting your eyes and crossing the street to avoid him (hmmmm, good samaritan story vibes...) why don't you have a conversation?  just listen.  or if you want to DO something, bring her a cup of coffee and a bagel?  or take them to the nearest mcdonalds for a quick meal that will cost you little but mean the world to a family who is hungry?

if you don't live in an area with a homeless population, why don't you ask God to begin highlighting people to you who are in need?  that doesn't necessarily mean financially.  ask Him how you can encourage and bless the individuals He points out to you, and then ACT on what He tells you!

i can promise you, you'll never be the same.

ok, i got off on a bit of a tangent...but the whole point of this post was to ask you that if you feel led to donate to a wonderful agency who does some really important work with the homeless population of tennessee...you can donate to my personal hiking page here (i don't handle the money for it at all; it goes straight to safe haven) or to anyone else on my team.

if you live close or know my address, feel free to give a check or cash (made out to "safe haven") to me and i'll take it to the hike on saturday.

and if this isn't something you feel led to do but you do feel called to make a difference somewhere, use your connections.  find something that you're passionate about and start helping where you can.  it makes more of a difference than you think it does, and it will impact you more than you realize.