Saturday, September 27, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
BABIES!!
Ok, so, we get this comment on my Dads blog. He has a relative that needs to put her twins up for adoption. My dad finds the guy, and my parents might be on a flight tonight!! I love my sister, and i need more!!!
Monday, September 8, 2008
The Burrito Prayer Movement
As my dad said in a post on his blog titled the Burrito Prayer Movement:
"On a hot, muggy evening a few months ago, I was walking down the street with Grayson, my 11 year old. On our way to a prayer meeting, we passed a homeless guy who asked for money for dinner. I diverted my eyes and kept walking. Grayson, unsure of the protocol on this sort of thing, grabbed my arm and said “Dad, that guy’s hungry!”.
I didn’t have time to explain to Grayson that A) giving that guy $5 would not fix his real problems or that B) the $5 we’d give him would most likely go to booze or drugs. Instead, I gave him a shorter answer - one that makes me cringe to this day.
“Gray, we can’t help him. We’re on our way to a prayer meeting."
I am embarrassed to think i said that in public... to a 6th grader.
When my sons eyes met mine, I saw what no dad wants to see - disappointment. Both of us were embarrassed at my answer about being to busy going to a prayer meeting to help a homeless guy. Smelling blood, Grayson stepped in to finish me off.
“Dad, let’s buy him a burrito...I’ll pay for it with my own money.”
Trying to fight the tears that were welling up at the outer edges of my eyes, I walked into a restaurant with my son and watched him order the biggest burrito ever assembled - one that would ultimately end up the size of a football. While the Burrito Assembly Crew worked on the monstrosity, Grayson turned his attention to the salsa bar, gathering two containers of each of the four options. I wondered when was the last time this guy had been given any options.
Armed with his bomb of a burrito and accompanying salsa ensemble, Grayson marched to where we’d passed the guy on the curb. Shaking off a momentary wave of nervousness, he stepped up. “Sir...”, he said, “I bought you a burrito to show you that God loves you. It’s right here, along with some different kinds of salsa.”
The dark eyes of a man who had been mistreated for years looked at him in disbelief. “What?” the man asked gruffly. Grayson repeated his pitch. As disbelief passed, the man took the burrito and grasped Grayson’s hand. Leveling his gaze into my son’s eyes, he spoke man to a man. “Thank you. Thank you very much.”
Walking away, Grayson was 10 feet all. He had questions about the man’s behavior, and so I explained the best I could that life on the street can be very hard, affecting people’s mental and spiritual state. Nearing the prayer meeting, he said “Oh man - I should have prayed for him! That would have been awesome!”
In the next week, Grayson spent every dime he had buying burritos for homeless guys, laying hands on them and praying for them. He was going for it - bound and determined to see someone set free.
After his third burrito prayer meeting, he walked away saying “It’s great that he’s got food, but I want to see him healed. Dad, I’m gonna get someone healed! I’m gonna get one!”
_________________________________________________________________
In response to that blog post, i just had someone, who is living on edge himself, drop by and gave me 2 $25 gift cards to Chipotle - one for me, one to give with. And, as he left, he left but one comment: "Get ready for more". I really love God.
"On a hot, muggy evening a few months ago, I was walking down the street with Grayson, my 11 year old. On our way to a prayer meeting, we passed a homeless guy who asked for money for dinner. I diverted my eyes and kept walking. Grayson, unsure of the protocol on this sort of thing, grabbed my arm and said “Dad, that guy’s hungry!”.
I didn’t have time to explain to Grayson that A) giving that guy $5 would not fix his real problems or that B) the $5 we’d give him would most likely go to booze or drugs. Instead, I gave him a shorter answer - one that makes me cringe to this day.
“Gray, we can’t help him. We’re on our way to a prayer meeting."
I am embarrassed to think i said that in public... to a 6th grader.
When my sons eyes met mine, I saw what no dad wants to see - disappointment. Both of us were embarrassed at my answer about being to busy going to a prayer meeting to help a homeless guy. Smelling blood, Grayson stepped in to finish me off.
“Dad, let’s buy him a burrito...I’ll pay for it with my own money.”
Trying to fight the tears that were welling up at the outer edges of my eyes, I walked into a restaurant with my son and watched him order the biggest burrito ever assembled - one that would ultimately end up the size of a football. While the Burrito Assembly Crew worked on the monstrosity, Grayson turned his attention to the salsa bar, gathering two containers of each of the four options. I wondered when was the last time this guy had been given any options.
Armed with his bomb of a burrito and accompanying salsa ensemble, Grayson marched to where we’d passed the guy on the curb. Shaking off a momentary wave of nervousness, he stepped up. “Sir...”, he said, “I bought you a burrito to show you that God loves you. It’s right here, along with some different kinds of salsa.”
The dark eyes of a man who had been mistreated for years looked at him in disbelief. “What?” the man asked gruffly. Grayson repeated his pitch. As disbelief passed, the man took the burrito and grasped Grayson’s hand. Leveling his gaze into my son’s eyes, he spoke man to a man. “Thank you. Thank you very much.”
Walking away, Grayson was 10 feet all. He had questions about the man’s behavior, and so I explained the best I could that life on the street can be very hard, affecting people’s mental and spiritual state. Nearing the prayer meeting, he said “Oh man - I should have prayed for him! That would have been awesome!”
In the next week, Grayson spent every dime he had buying burritos for homeless guys, laying hands on them and praying for them. He was going for it - bound and determined to see someone set free.
After his third burrito prayer meeting, he walked away saying “It’s great that he’s got food, but I want to see him healed. Dad, I’m gonna get someone healed! I’m gonna get one!”
_________________________________________________________________
In response to that blog post, i just had someone, who is living on edge himself, drop by and gave me 2 $25 gift cards to Chipotle - one for me, one to give with. And, as he left, he left but one comment: "Get ready for more". I really love God.
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