So my latest adventure brought me to the Oasis Motel... not a place that I had ever been before, but I now have fond memories of that small motel with the neon sign.
A group of friends and I began meeting on Friday nights to get together with the intent of being God's hands and feet. So, last night we met at Vijay's apartment and prayed together for a while. We sat in God's presence for a good while just "soaking" in his peace. Then after a while we piled in a car and headed to downtown, the area we felt we were supposed to go. We prayed that God would lead us to exactly who He wanted. We drove around downtown a little bit and ended up parking at the Day Center for the homeless. There weren't many people there, but we parked and got out.
We came upon three people just standing outside and they did not look like they wanted to talk, but Vijay introduced himself and asked what they were doing. I offered some homeade brownies that I had made, but they declined. We quickly found out that this was a family and they told us they were in "transition" and they also warmed up to us when they realized we just wanted to help. They eventually ate some of the brownies and shared their full story. Their 13 year old daughter was standing there with them and we found at that she just got registered for school at Central. My heart went out to Caitlin. I can't imagine so much uncertainty for a 13 year old.
I have to admit that once I heard their story and saw them at their vulnerable state, all my defenses came down too. I wanted to help, really help. All week I had that scripture in my head, "Lord, when did I give you something to eat? When you gave it unto the least of these, you gave to me". I felt like I had heard God say all week to me, "Melissa, love me. Feed me, clothe me."
So, we found out that this family's greatest need was formula for their babies. They had two little babies, Caleb and Alexis. They were 1 yr old twins. We got to see them. It's so hard to take a step back and look at this family standing on the curb of the day center with about 7 duffle bags full of stuff. .. It was all they had. They weren't allowed to stay at the homeless shelter because you are only allowed to have one bag per person. So, when we encountered Creed and Karis they were waiting for a ride because they were going to get a cheap motel that night. They had found a ride with someone who had an SUV to carry all their stuff and take them to their motel.
We met the family at their motel and prayed with them and met a small need of formula for the babies. The family was just completely overwhelmed and encouraged, and so were we. I love just being open to God and allowing Him to use us in any way. I pray that this beautiful family is taken care of in every way. We heard more about their plans and I pray that their future is secure... and with God I believe it will be.
