Walking the streets...

I get to spend the whole week in the City with a group from Riverside participating in a week long Jesus Dojo. It is going to be a great week because the leaders, Damien and Jen O'Farrell, are people I've been getting to know over the past couple years and truly enjoy. I hope these high schoolers appreciate Damien and Jen and the care and teaching they receive from them.

We did some serious walking today and met some wonderful people. A woman named Bree stopped us and thanked us for smiling. We paused our walk and spent a few minutes with her, and she explained that she just appreciates seeing young men who appear to have to be happy and kind. We had an interesting conversation in which she invited us into her group of actors she is getting together. An hour or so later an elderly woman in the UN Plaza said hello as we walked by. I was surprised to see a woman of her age sitting down in the middle of the plaza by herself. She just wanted some people to talk to for a little while, and we enjoyed her company. She told us about the crummy motel she has to live in these days and her hopes that her social worker will return from vacation so she can get into a new place, but she was also encouraging... "It's a beautiful day! I finally see how beautiful it is. I recently quit drinking and smoking, and I just feel wonderful!" "Yes, God is good, isn't He? He has given us a beautiful day." Suddenly she asked us to pray for her, which was interesting since we had given no indication we were Christians or were in the habit of praying. We prayed for her housing situation and thanked God that He has delivered her from alcohol. We said goodbye as she called out to us to take care of ourselves. The three of us continued our walk through the Tenderloin in awe of the frail old lady sitting in the middle of the UN Plaza, soaking up the sun.

I can only hope and pray the week is full of moments like these. I'm stoked about this group. Tomorrow we enter the beautiful mess of Page Street Community Center.