Today it is raining and reminding me very much of a November day in North Carolina, albeit quite a bit warmer. I first want to thank everyone for their greetings last week. It is such a nice surprise to get both e-mail and “snail” mail out here! This week will mark 3 months since I left Clemmons for this year long journey and I can’t believe that it is almost ¼ of the way over. I am still working with P.A.T.H. (People Assisting The Homeless), however, as of October 1st, my job title changed to Navigator Intern instead of Outreach Intern. This doesn’t sound like a huge difference, but I am now an actual Case Manager for clients that are currently experiencing homelessness and staying in our shelter at PATH Hollywood. The negative side of this is that I feel like I am woefully underprepared for helping my clients find the resources they need to progress through our program and that is so frustrating. The positive side is that I am getting to know clients on a much deeper level and learning so much more about homelessness than I would otherwise.
Last weekend I went camping in Joshua Tree National Park with the young adult group at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood called City Lights. In my head, this weekend was going to be warm, sunny and relaxing! Boy was I wrong! Instead it was cold, rainy, and I didn’t have a tent or sleeping bag that was quite appropriate. I was lying on cold ground Friday night shivering and really angry at the world. Then I realized that many of the clients that my roommates and I are encountering on a daily basis would be in those same elements without any tent or any sleeping bag. Trust me when I say, it didn’t make it warm, but it did serve to remind me why I am here.
Things have been far from easy since I left Clemmons, but there are times when God’s message is so very clear that it could be written across each of our foreheads. We are here to help one another, to be in community with one another and to have a relationship with God. There are times that the clients help me more than I help them. There are times that my roommates comfort me when I don’t even know I need to be comforted. There have been so many times when I have felt God’s hand on my shoulder, walking with me and God’s power underneath me carrying me that I am mesmerized by this experience and all it has to offer that I haven’t even found yet.
A few Monday’s ago we walked a labyrinth for Community Day in Palos Verdes Estates California…
The few from the labyrinth.
This picture is from a community day a few weeks ago where we spent the day at the old LA Zoo that was abandoned in the 60’s I think…it was a super awesome day also.
