The Good Samaritan

Today in Seattle we had about 7-14 inches of snow in various parts of the western part of Washington state. I woke up and looked outside to see my yard that was covered in my favorite color as snow continued to trickle down and the sun began to shine a bit around 7 this morning. I jumped out of bed to grab a bite of a cookie ;P, and began to think of how COLD it was outside and how the homeless people in Seattle are dealing with this weather.

I had the urge to text or email people that I knew in the church, but stopped feeling a bit foolish for some reason. So, I made my morning breakfast that I'm currently in love with... cereal, bananas, and TOASTED COCONUTS. I LOVE coconuts right now, so I eat it daily and with whatever tastes good with it ;P. Turned on the news and munched on my delish breakfast to hear that shelters in Seattle where opening up places for the homeless to stay warm and some have even refused to leave their locations, but the option was open for them. Phewww I thought, but in the back of my mind I still worried about those that I have talked too, especially one lady and her boyfriend that I've gotten to know over the past month. O_o

Then I decided to jump in my car for a ride and adventure (thats another story) and see what my new AWD car can do in this snow. I was driving and I passed a man who was wanting a ride. He was stumbling and my heart sank yet again. Should I stop? Should I go? I'm scared cus hes a man and I don't know him. Dude, if only I was a guy? If only I had a guy in my car with me. Thoughts began to rush through my mind as I passed the poor guy.

Then the Parable of the Good Samaritan came to mind:

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”  “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live. But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? ”The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” -Luke 10:25-37

Love God and love your neighbor is first commandment and the guy I passed was my neighbor. These days, after taking part in the the homeless outreach and watching the news I feel week and paralyzed at times as to how much God can use my life to really help these people who are in such need. I mean of course prayer and loving on them when I see them. But the necessities of daily life, I feel so weak. I decided to take the month of Jan. off of in doing this ministry because I feel so overwhelmed emotionally with the ministry and just my transition and personal "issues", but yeah... seeing this man today walking, needing, asking, and just driving by... I didn't know what else to do... One of the few times that I wished I was a DUDE. There is so much NEED OUT THERE! and many are dying daily who do NOT know Christ. It's like my heart is torn and divided at times. 

But yes, so after my "adventure" I arrived back to a home w/o POWER! A tree had fallen on the wires and caused a power outage, so no power and water. It only lasted about 1.5 hours, but I HATED it. I really dislike being cold more than being hungry, and yeah... How do the homeless out there survive in such harsh conditions being cold and hungry... man... God... what can we/I do as believers in a world with so much need... 

#HOWCANWELOVEOURNEIGHBOR