Encouragement

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I live in a coastal city, and in the midst of its beauty
The ugly side is also the homelessness.
When I first moved here, I noticed the occasional winos and weathered homeless,
and the trash-pickers in the alley.
I learned the ones to avoid,
Which ones were “regulars”
and that I was to pray for them all.
One lady’s husband is disabled and she bundles up and dons her gloves and coat and looks for cans and recycleables. She is not asking for government bail-outs or charity, just trying to help make ends meet. We in the building have been “hiding” things for her to find.

Lately, there are more and more trash pickers.
Not just with a little bag or a small cart.
Today, a big brand new SUV pulled up and two well dressed ladies got out and began going through the trash! I happened out there just in time to see them jiggling a garage lock, and yelled at them to leave. Theirs was not need, but greed.

It is a sign of our times that this uncertainty breeds two things – theft and resourcefulness.

It is up to us to choose the direction that uncertain times will take our hearts.
Do we panic and allow thoughts of economic or political chaos to frighten us and melt our resolve, or do we stand firm, yet not taking for granted what God has so richly provided?

Look around at the resources - financial and otherwise - that God has blessed you with. Enjoy the friendships and opportunities that He sends every day. For even like the lady with the disabled husband - God "hides" blessings all around us, waiting for us to find them.

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