Homeless in October

Have you ever been homeless?

I mean the kind of homeless where you don’t have any place to call your own. Where you don’t even have a friend’s sofa to sleep on at night. Where you can’t even take a shower, or curl up in a blanket to get warm.

Homeless.

Looking at me now, you would probably never guess that I was actually homeless for a period of time in my “former life.” (My former life is when I was a young adult involved in a violent and abusive relationship.)

I lost my job because I called in sick too much.

I was very good at my job, but I called in too much.

After I was fired, I went back to a part-time job working for a stationery store at the mall for $3.35/hour. I worked four miles from my apartment and didn’t have a car. I walked home alone in the dark. And after I couldn’t pay my rent, my grandma was kind enough to take me and my boyfriend (who wouldn’t get a job) in to live with her in Oklahoma. As much as I loved her, I’m glad it didn’t last long before I was offered a job back in Kansas.

His mother let us stay with them for a couple of weeks because I had a job. I got up early, walked to the bus stop, got off the bus near work, and then walked another 3 blocks to the bus stop after work, and took the bus back to their house each night.

I was too proud to call my parents and ask for help.

I was too proud to walk away and say I was wrong about him.

One Friday night, after I got off work and got back to the house, his mom told me we would have to leave because her husband didn’t want us there anymore. Apparently, my boyfriend (her son) slept all day and didn’t make any attempt to get a job. That’s the way he was.

She later said she hoped I would call my parents and go home to get my life back on track because she knew he treated me terribly.

Most of our stuff was in storage.

Anyway, that night, as we were walking down a busy street with everything we had in our hands, on our backs, etc., he blamed me for our predicament, hit me in the head, and pushed me down onto the ground. On concrete. And I was crying because I was hurt, it was cold, I was exhausted, and I wondered how I would be able to keep my new job if I couldn’t even take a shower.

After spending the night running from barking dogs and anything/one else that was running around outside that night, I made a couple of phone calls… One to my sister (who was engaged), and one to one of my best and oldest friends. I didn’t tell either of them I was homeless. I was too embarrassed.

Anyway, we had a friend who let us stay with her and her family. They weren’t wealthy at all monetarily, but they gave what they had. And I appreciated it. They let us stay long enough for me to get a paycheck. And a place to live. It was only a week or two.

So every year in October, I think about the homeless people out there. I think about those people who are cold and wonder where their next meal will come from. Those people who don’t have blankets…or coats…or showers. Or anyone to love them. Or any hope.

Jesus loves those people! In fact, he gravitated towards those who were needy. He loved the sick and destitute because they needed Him.

And I needed Him.

There are people out there who think Christians are “crazy” for their beliefs, but I can say, without a doubt, the only reason I am alive today is because Jesus had a plan for my life. He would never let me go, and He protected me from worse things than those I willingly walked into. And He even rescued me from those.

I am so grateful for all I have been blessed with.

The story about me being homeless is true. It happened almost 30 years ago, October of 1985.

One thing I try to do, though it’s becoming increasingly more difficult at times, is remember that every person is going through something. While they might lash out at me, they are probably going through something that has nothing to do with me.

Just a reminder to all of us – Be grateful for what you have today because we are not guaranteed tomorrow.

Let’s be an encouragement to each other and help where and when we can.

Hebrews 3:12-13 – “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called 'Today,' so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness."