Emphasis Preaching Journal

Folks are not always as they seem. Her name was Alice, and she had come one evening of a summer work trip to speak to our youth who were working in a big-city homeless shelter. To the kids Alice seemed a well-dressed, well-spoken, middle-class, middle aged woman. She seemed, in fact, like one of their mothers. They did not realize, until she told her story, that she was one of the residents of the shelter for the homeless where they were working that week. The story she told them of her life was one of alcohol and drugs, loss of family and loss of home, loss of the most basic human dignity.

Her dignity had been stripped away as she lived on the streets, scavenging her meals from dumpsters behind stores and restaurants. Thanks to the good folks at the shelter, Alice's life had changed. It had been picked up and put back togeher again. Now, she said to the kids, she had work to do. She felt that God had brought them to the shelter to work with folks like her, but also God had brought her to the shelter to work with folks like them. Their work was to paint, clean and serve food to the homeless.

Her work was to talk to kids from middle-class suburban homes; to show them how easy it is for anyone, even someone very much like them, to lose everything when drugs and alcohol take control. God had given these kids gifts for helping the homeless, and also had given this homeless woman gifts for helping them.
--Curley