Day One of "31 Days of Love": Feeding and Housing the Homeless!

Today was day one and I was pretty excited/antsy about what was to come. I sensed that God would call on me to make a monetary sacrifice of some kind today. So I was really dissapointed with myself when I realized I had left a $5 bill on my desk after leaving my room.

Luckily, I made sure to check how much money I had in my bank account just before leaving for my first day at my internship, just so I knew how much I could spend.

After getting back from my internship this afternoon (it was my first day!), I had to walk back to my dorm. This required me to go through the city streets. We've got a good amount of homeless people around here so I felt I would get to feed a hungry person today.

Sure enough, I came across a homeless man sitting at a bench. I struck up conversation with him and learned his name was Clay (I thought this was cool because I have shoes made by a brand called Clae haha).
I asked him if he was hungry and he said yes. It was very difficult to understand him and I later learned that he was at a mental hospital for some time.

We went to Burger King and he (rather cutely) requested a Fish Sandwich and a Dr. Pepper. I got it for him, and while waiting for the food we talked about his story. He lives at a homeless shelter out on Skid Row and he's waiting for his social security checks.

After his food came out, we walked outside and I prayed for him. I was kind of nervous and didn't know what exactly to pray for, but nevertheless, I prayed for him and we parted ways shortly thereafter.

This is a picture I got of him outside Burger King:















I walked away really happy because I had officially done my first act of kindness!

But it didn't end there!

I walked a little further towards the direction of my school and came upon another homeless man asking passersby for spare change.

I made some conversation with him too and found out his name was Booker. He was not mentally ill and was actually a pretty funny guy. He told me he needed some change to catch the bus and reassured me repeatedly that he would not use the money for booze, drugs, smokes, or anything else (so cute).

So I told him to wait a minute while I headed into Yoshinoya. This is when it struck me again that I did not have cash, but luckily there was a Bank of America right there so I hit up the ATM.

I withdrew $20 and walked back in his direction and asked him how much he needed.

He then told me that he actually had enough money for the bus, but was out there asking for money because he was short $20 for rent.

He told me some more details about his living situation. While he was still talking I handed him my $20 bill.

His reaction broke my heart and brought me so much joy at the same time.

Looking genuinely shocked, he mumbled "....no no no... You serious?!"

I said "Yes" and asked him if I could pray for him. So I did.

There was a ton of people walking around us and I would normally be a little be self-conscious but I was absolutely focused this time on lifting this man's situation up to God. It was great.

Booker was genuinely touched and told me that he was very inspired. I was able to get a picture with Booker before he hurried away to give his landlord his rent money.

This is Booker and Me! He's awesome!

















Day One is officially complete!

I'm so happy I am doing this. It really feels good to help these rejected and needy people out. God bless the homeless and hungry!

Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring :D