Homeless but Assured

Psalm 121.1-8

I lift up my eyes to the hills – from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night.

During the fall semester 2012, I enrolled in a class, Ministry to the Poor. This class required a final project paper on a subject relative to poverty.  I chose to write about the homeless.  Since I had never been homeless I decided to become homeless by sleeping in a shelter.

I checked into a local homeless shelter in Dallas on a cold Friday night in November dressed in the image of homeless people I had encountered on city streets. After a two hour assessment/ enrollment process I was given permission to sleep in the shelter for the night. The people there did not dress like the people I had encountered on the streets. I was improperly dressed.

My time was spent pretending to be asleep while eavesdropping on conversations and counting down to the time I would text my sister to come pick me up Saturday morning.  Through these conversations, I discovered that many of the women were employed or looking for work. They shared their varied unfiltered stories with one another while mentioning God with a sense of assurance.  I sensed thankful hearts in the midst of unwelcomed temporary circumstances.

Emotionally, I wanted to check out and could not sleep. I listened with annoyance to the rhythmic, round rotation of snoring by at least five different voices.  None of the other women complained nor ask them to “shut up” as I had expected.

While I have not physically returned to the shelter, lessons learned on that cold November night are indelibly etched in my mind.  I learned that these women can sleep in the midst of homelessness and snoring voices because the God who keeps and cares for them does not sleep; these women demonstrated what it means to be kept by God.   Neither homelessness nor any peril can separate us from God’s loving care. Trusting God means we find joy and hope in the midst of the situation with an undying faith in God’s promises.

Prayer Focus:
Most Holy God help us to enjoy the assurance of your care and love in the midst of change and  unwelcomed circumstances; and help us  to enjoy the promised expected gift of love, hope and protection that is wrapped in the message of this Advent Season. 

Evelyn Kelly, Ministry Intern