Homeless to a Wall Street Tycoon...

Most everyone has seen the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" where Will Smith stars in a true story based on a man by the name of Chris Gardner. It is a great movie as well as a touching true story of how a man who was once homeless overcame the odds to work on Wall Street. After seeing the movie your hope is for everyone who is homeless to end up like him. The truth is though not everyone can or will end up like him. There are many different types of homeless people here in Philly; some who do remind me of Chris Gardner, they have fallen into similar circumstances that with the right break their lives could turn out very much the same as his life did. Then there are those who in no way could do what Chris Gardner did because well, there just not capable due to mental illness, ability, or just were never taught life skills.

I have a friend here in Philly that is one those people. He is not mentally ill or lazy, he just was never taught basic life skills, but he is the nicest guy you will ever meet, his name is Jose. Jose is quiet, calm, and pretty much keeps to himself. About 8 months ago we helped Jose get off the streets and move into a city run personal care home. The home takes people in just like Jose and those who just can't take care of themselves no matter the circumstance. It provides them a safe place to live including room and board, meals, and a variety of activities for them to do.

I tell you this because I visited Jose today. The home was having a picnic for their residents as well as friends and family. It was an awesome picnic. They had barbecue chicken, fruit and my favorite, funnel cake. They also had game booths, a DJ, a clown and an artist who drew caricatures. I convinced Jose to get a caricature of himself and the artist made the quiet, reserved Jose into a smiling, confident Wall Street Tycoon with money in his hand and the New York City buildings in the background. The picture made Jose's day. I really enjoyed spending time with him at the picnic today and I am so thankful that he is where he is. I know that even though he will never truly be a Wall Street Tycoon he is just as happy, if not happier, than any guy on Wall Street will ever be. And for that I am thankful to the Lord.

Camping and Four Guys

We set off this past Friday afternoon to Bald Eagle State Park for a weekend away in the woods. Every so often being surrounded by concrete kind of gets old and we start to miss trees and grass; so we decided to take our weekend and go camping. I didn't even have to force Anna to go either .... I asked her as we were planning on what to do for the weekend if she maybe wanted to go to Baltimore for the night and she said no she would rather go camping. So we went camping and camped in the park's primitive camping area which is called "primitive" because the camp sites are 100 ft. from the road and about 100 ft. from another camp site; oh ya, and no running water either. It might sound a little rough but it was exactly what we needed. It was wonderful; we spent the weekend with constant camp fires, reading, hiking, relaxing and just enjoying the beauty of nature. I'm not gonna lie we were pretty sad to leave on Sunday because I think we both really enjoy camping.

Meanwhile ministry here in Philly is going well. Things continue to be busy for us both and I find myself continuing to grow in my love for the people here. As I was leaving Cast Your Cares yesterday I noticed a guy walking across the street towards me. He wanted to know what day he was signed up to get food from our food cupboard and I just happened to know because I noticed his name on the list for Thursday. About that same time I noticed another guy walking towards me who I knew and he wanted to talk as well. Before I knew it there were four guys around me asking me a variety of questions all at once, all about the food cupboard. I didn't mind it though because they all led into conversations that were a little more personable then just when is my appointment. I have known each of the guys for a few years, some better than others. We finished up our conversations and as I was beginning to leave I felt tears starting to fill up my eyes and an overwhelming feeling of love and caring for the guys. They all have very different lives, with different families, friends, and circumstances. As I was on my way home I found myself praying for these guys; praying that they would know the Truth about Jesus, who He is, who He wants to be in their lives, and the hope that He gives us here on Earth and for eternity. I began to remember vividly some of the conversations I have had with them about the Lord from time to time and wondering at the time if I was getting anywhere with them. But the Lord encouraged me right then that it is not my job to convince anyone about who He is but just to share who He is and to show who He is to others in my life. I finished praying with a peace in my heart as well as a deep since of caring for these four guys. It was another neat experience for me here in Philly, one that I hope I'll never forget and one that I am very thankful for. It encouraged me to press on for Jesus, as Philippians's 3:14 says and it also encouraged me to wait in eager hope for those four guys to one day embrace their Savior, Jesus.


Home away from Home

Hiking adventure

Do I go through?

Chris leading the way


Dinner

Hunger, Friends and a Clown

Well this past weekend was a pretty eventful one for Anna and I. This past Saturday we attended "Kinny's Walk" which by saying we I mean Cast Your Cares, have participated as an agency for the past two years. "Kinny's Walk" is put on by an organization called the Battle Against Hunger which have taken us under their wing so to speak as one of their ministries they help raise money for. We also participate in their annual Battle Against Hunger bike ride every as well. It was a great event filled with people walking for a cause, pony rides, and yes Bubbles the clown who makes great balloon hats for kids (and also for the kid inside all of us).

Every Saturday morning I have been meeting with a group of guys for a bible study since the beginning of the New Year. It has been an awesome experience and I have really enjoyed growing together with these guys. I tell you this because on Saturday night we all met up with our wives and one guy who has a girlfriend and made dinner for them to let them know how much we appreciate them. It was a lot of fun and hey the food was pretty good for four guys with hardly any cooking skills.

And on Sunday we took a beach trip to Atlantic City with some friends for our friend Megan's 25th birthday. We had a fun time, full of sun and sand, and even some good food from P. F. Chang's.

We had a lot of fun this past weekend and we also enclosed some hard working photos from our weekend below.

Thanks Bubbles

Working hard with CYC

Anna's activities for the day

Dinner for the girls

Megan's 25th B-Day

A Little More Grace

We hit a milestone this past Thursday when we gave out 50 bags of food at the food cupboard. We have been hovering around 40 for quite some time now, but 50.. well thats an all-time high for us. So as you can tell it was another busy week for Anna and I. Anna started working at her new internship at the Maternity Care Coalition where she is helping out with a program to teach new moms about SIDS and sleep safety. She is really enjoying it and hopefully one of these days she will write on the blog about it.
It has been an interesting week for me here in Philly to say the least. I dealt with many different people this past week of all ages and personalities; and that was just on Thursday (ha ha just kidding). It was an interesting week because well this city is an interesting place. I found myself getting frustrated and annoyed with some different situations ranging from the same drunk person saying the same thing over and over again, to the horrible drivers all over the city, to the rude kids in the local Chinese store. In every situation I left them thinking what in the world is wrong with those people. The truth is that I could see what was wrong with them but I was the one lacking perspective. You see I so easily forget that we live in a broken sinful world full of sinful people, myself included (Anna will tell you). In each of those situations I could see what was wrong with the situation but I couldn't see what to do with it, so I just got frustrated and annoyed. The Lord reminded me in His word that we all fall short of His glory and that we are only righteous through what Jesus has done for us. That when He looks at us He sees Jesus and what He has done, not what we have done. I am not saying that we shouldn't correct people or deal with situations when there is a wrong, I am saying that maybe gaining some perspective and showing the same grace that He shows each of us is the best thing to do. I am thankful He has shown me this and hopefully because His grace I can show a little more grace.