This Week God Brought Us: Hayden, Angie, Travis, Carl, Rick, Heather and Duane

This week God brought us... Hayden, Angie, Travis, Carl, Rick, Heather and Duane”, all of whom approached us for help this past week to put some gas in their cars.  Each and every one of them is experiencing homelessness and living in their vehicles.  Angie drives a large truck hauling a large travel trailer behind it.  Heather has bright eyes and a polite manner, she is in her 30s and lives in a small SUV with her mother.  Rick broke down in tears at our front desk, overwhelmed with the recent change in his living situation, struggling with the many aspects of his life made harder by homelessness.  I spent 15 minutes with him jumping the battery of his car in order to get to the nearby gas station.  After the heavy emotion in our office, he gave a hearty laugh when I suggested that I was the least mechanically-inclined person he was likely to meet.  20 years ago, we simply did not see this now common phenomenon of so many people living in their cars.  We are blessed with our ability to offer low-barrier help in this way, thanks to regular support we receive from a local Protestant congregation.  It should be a profound challenge to all of us that so many of our neighbors have no other option but to search each night for a safe place to park their car and to hope that they have enough gas during the winter to be able to run the engine periodically to stay warm.  Help us, O Lord, to receive them all with charity and grace.