Confession

I am selfish. I am judgmental... a hypocrite. Things that I never wanted to be. I've thought differently about others because I thought that they were being these things. God is revealing a lot of things about myself to me. He is most definitely wanting to humble my spirit. Even though I hate what I see in me, I know this is what I need though. How can I love others before I can love myself? It just doesn't work that way and I need to acknowledge my Savior's forgiveness and mercy.

Yesterday, I went with Alisha, Emily, and the rest of Ryan Mifflin's Dirty Roots Revolution gang to St. Louis. We helped pass out care packages with food, some socks, hats, mittens, and toiletries to homeless people. After all of the packages were gone, we just hung out with them for like 2 hours, talking. The DRR crew has been going there for about a year now and so they know most of the people who come by and get the packages. They're friends, genuinely. It truly humbled me to hear some of their stories. Sometimes people cross to the other side of the street just so they can avoid the homeless ones. They're not even treated like humans half the time. And yet, when I talk to them, they have better than most of the "normal" people that I know. Even though they have nothing, they are happier than many wealthy people I know. I see Jesus in them.

I read Shane Claiborne's Irresistible Revolution last year. It was pretty inspiring. Anyway, he talked about how he met a lot of homeless people in a large city and they all slept at an old church building and the city wanted to kick them out. They were able to construct a sign saying, "How can we worship a homeless man on Sunday and ignore one on Monday?" The homeless man they referred to is my Saviour, Jesus Christ. You see, Jesus never truly had a home or a place where he could rest his head. He didn't belong anywhere, but he was the ultimate example of love and acceptance. What an amazing God. It puts things in perspective when you think about it like that. How can we ignore the poor and impoverished, the orphaned and widowed? I'm really thankful that God brought me to St. Louis yesterday. I have so much to be thankful for. I suppose it is the season for that and this year, I'm not just saying thanks... I'm actually going to do something about it. Because Jesus has blessed me with so much, he will also bless others through me.