Since becoming a part of Church of the Resurrection in late 2012, I have been jealous. Sometimes I’m jealous of the gifts I see in the artistic and intellectual people all around me. I know my art and my mind can’t compete with many of my friends’ abilities.
But then I remember that we children of God are one, as our Triune God is one. The gifts or talents we each express are not for ourselves, but for the edification of the body of Christ and for the restoration of the world. So when he faithfully sings, or when she faithfully blogs, I have the opportunity to receive and delight in those gifts. As a result, I become a fuller worshiper of Christ as my heart is pulled deeper into love. At this moment, I have the honor of filling a small canvas with the gifts our loving God has given to me—and because we are one in Christ, they are your gifts, too.
Since February of this year, I have been working as an Outreach Case Manager with Dupage PADS. Dupage PADS is a local non-profit that provides case management and nightly shelter at various locations throughout the county for the downtrodden, mentally ill, abused, abusive, addicted, black, white, elderly, infant, angry, smiling, funny, generous, kind. They are the homeless people of our county.
Some nights at work, I sit at a table eating the delicious meal a tribe of volunteers prepared for my clients. We talk about our days, and then I ask a more probing question: “If you could do any job, what would you do? What is one of your dreams?” The silence bounces all around that large table and back to my sad heart. Shawn, a recovering alcoholic, faithfully sees his son each Sunday, playing at a park or eating ice-cream. Weeks after the failed dinner conversation, Shawn intentionally seeks me out to tell me something “really exciting.” After some clarification stating how he knows it is crazy and isn’t very plausible, Shawn declares that today he remembered he wants to be a helicopter pilot or a filmmaker. I rejoice with him. Next week when I ask if he has done any research on helicopter school, he sheepishly smiles and replies that he has, but just a little.
Trent, who looks with glassy eyes and exhales alcohol nearly every night I see him, has shared with me his desire to defeat this addiction. When his eyes are clear, like the 3rd grade teacher I’m trained to be, I chirp with a big smile, “Good job!” I look into his blue eyes and say that I see him thriving again, and soon. He is thirsty for those words, he tells me.
Recently, my mother gave me two big bags of fancy clothes for which her closet no longer has space. After dinner at a shelter in Oakbrook, I dump out the J.Jill contents on top of some tables, and call the women to go “shopping” with me. After lights out that night, I tiptoe through the gymnasium past 70 different snores, while holding two new tops in my hand. I glance down at the beautiful young woman sleeping with her arms around two little boys. I see a small pile of new clothes folded on top of the chair next to her. She is starting a new job next week as a baker in a local grocery store.
Martha and I sit on the floor with our knees touching each other as we exchange names and conversation. She speaks of the devastation of being jobless and homeless since 2008. Martha tells me how she finally deigned to sign up for social security, as she can’t even work a desk job due to hearing loss. Before parting knees, I look deep into her eyes and say that she’s beautiful. She smiles weakly, confessing that’s been hard for her to believe lately. I have not seen her again since that night.
Sabrina smiles wide through red lips, declaring “I’m blessed,” as she shares frequently how God has brought her through some unthinkably terrible situations, always building her faith. She cries with me as she has unjustly lost her place on the housing list she had been waiting on for three years. She cannot live like this, a 60-year-old woman with hip replacements and a walker without a car in the suburbs for another three years, she tells me. She says she would rather throw herself on train tracks. Sabrina accepts my offer to pray for her.
I share these few stories for they are romantic, and may move any reader into supporting these people whom I love. I cling to these few stories so that they will woo me deeper into the love of Christ, the ultimate Gift.
My dream for the Church, which many of you are living out with more conviction and commitment than I ever will, is to be more and more available for such authentic interactions in a diverse world, and to even yearn for them. I hope that from there we unlock our doors more readily, share job opportunities frequently, and invite one another into our lives—into the church. So far, a couple of my clients have come to worship with us at Church of the Resurrection on a Sunday morning. Let’s pray they bless our community with themselves again soon.
If any of you would like to volunteer, run in a fundraising 5k, or even work part-time (we are always looking especially to hire men for the interim housing program) with Dupage PADS, we would love your support. If you’d like to know more, please feel free to search the website at dupagepads.org or contact me at 630.217.5190.
The opinions expressed above do not necessarily reflect those of the management of Dupage PADS. All names have been changed to protect the rights of PADS participants.
