Homelessness kinda sucks.

So this weekend we had a youth event. The idea was this: A bunch of students from our youth group came over to our house, and once they arrived we had a bunch of cardboard boxes and duct tape. We built cardboard houses for ourselves then huddled around a fire which was in a large metal trash can. The goal for us was to somewhat relate to the homeless by sleeping outside in cardboard, as though we were homeless. Then the next morning we went to a homeless shelter and helped serve breakfast to the poor and homeless.

Most of the students brought sleeping bags and pillows, and they built themselves marvelous cardboard cabins that kept them mostly warm. I wanted to replicate the experience of homelessness as closely as possible, so I didn't take a pillow or a blanket or a sleepingbag. I didn't build a big cardboard mansion. I just took a piece of cardboard and laid it on the ground, then took another piece of leaned it up against our house. For warmth, I had my socks and shoes, jeans, a thermal top, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, and my jacket. That sounds like a lot.. But I cannot even describe how horribly cold I was. And my lean-to kept falling over. And I was cramped in between the cardboard and the side of my house, unable to move, 'cuz if I did the cardboard would fall. My legs went numb first, then my arms. My neck was strained because there was no support of a pillow or anything. I eventually ended up laying on my stomach with my face just pressed against the ground, 'cuz that was the only way I could lay without my neck being in pain.

I managed to get a few hours of sleep in between my shivering and the aching in my joints. But it was a crazy experience. It really gives new meaning to what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:22, "To the weak I became weak in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I may save some."

When we went to that homeless shelter the next day, and I was talking to some of those guys, I remembered that moment at 2:38 that morning where I just could not stay in the same position any more, but I was so cold I was afraid to move. And I could relate to this guy, I could on some small level understand his hopelessness. I understood why so many homeless people take naps during the day in parks.. Because it's too cold to try and sleep at night. I honestly think if I became homeless I would stay awake all night walking around trying to stay warm, and then sleep during the day when it was warmer.

This weekend affected me in many ways. I think it's amazing that God has brought me here to this place in my life. I can't express how amazing it was to see the youth of The Resistance Youth participating and serving those in need. It made my heart happy, as they put on smiles and said, "Good morning!" cheerfully, to these dirty smelly old men as they walked past their station in the food line. I got to have a bowl of oatmeal with a mom and her 5 young children. There were those crazy, reclusive people sitting by themselves, hoarding over their food, seeming ready to fight anyone who might try to take it from them. But far more often I saw people sharing with each other, and talking with each other. It was a community of a kind. A community thrown together by the common thread of rejection. Rejection from people, and from our society. It was a community some part of myself could relate to. Many seemed without hope, but there were a few that I could see light reflecting back towards me from their eyes. There was life there, yet. I think those few just need a helping hand. A consistent helping hand. Hote, Pas, Pantote. As long as, some of all types, Always.