Before last night, I\u2019ve not been on the streets since January. I\u2019m in school again and class is on Monday nights so others have carried on instead. Thank God for Suzanne, Wes, Gracie, Melanie, Jan and her PB&J moms, church women who make PB&Js too, Amy, Micah, Leo, Scottie, donors, and plenty of others I\u2019ll add when I\u2019m reminded of who I\u2019ve forgotten. People have shared food and love because of everyone\u2019s dedication at the Burrito Ministry. I\u2019m between semesters now though so I was able to go back, and being there Monday night sure reminded me how much I miss it. It\u2019s hard to say I miss going to burrito nights, that I miss seeing the people. I shouldn\u2019t want to be there. To say I miss it means I like being there and in some ways, I really don\u2019t. It would be better if none of us were on the streets but those without a home have nowhere else to go, and I sure have missed being with them even if I don\u2019t like where they are at all. I don\u2019t like it that many of the same friends are there. I love it of course that they\u2019ve asked about me and know how I\u2019ve been doing via Suzanne\u2019s reports. I\u2019ve kept up with them, too. I just despise that friends are still there, still hungry, still vulnerable, and still forgotten. I missed the hugs. I had so many hugs Monday night! Not side hugs either, but real ones. They were both arms where you hold on for a few seconds kind of hugs. It felt good, too, because I know how the world can often be hugless and I know my friends know it even more than I do. So, I miss our hugs and pray for a world that might learn how life\u2019s metaphorical hugs are so much better than the alternatives. Maybe if the world did a little bit better hugging with the hurting I wouldn\u2019t have Monday nights to miss. I missed the small talk. The line behind the burrito wagon is often several people deep, so we have time to chit chat. I don\u2019t like that there\u2019s a line for food. I don\u2019t like that people feel as if they\u2019re getting a handout. So, I talk to people. I was reminded this week how quick the wit is on the streets. I was reminded how interesting our friends are, smart and resourceful, too. I missed laughing at terrible jokes. I got reminded how appreciative people are and how when some thank us, they thank us from a place that is deep and real. I missed thanking them back for allowing us to be with them. I missed it, but that makes me hate no less that it all occurs on side streets and tent camps. There\u2019s got to be a better way. That\u2019s the way of the world though, I guess. It\u2019s not going to be perfect. It\u2019ll have things we righteously hate and despise. Still, in the middle of all the muck and mire, we can be a part of the good that exists even in the worst places. We can see friends, talk, laugh, pray, cry, hug, and share. It might not make the whole thing better, or maybe it will. No doubt though it\u2019ll give us the motivation to come back and be with our friends again, and miss them terribly when we\u2019re not there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before last night, I\u2019ve not been on the streets since January. I\u2019m in school again and class is on Monday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-3889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-nashville-burrito-ministry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenkinscp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenkinscp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenkinscp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenkinscp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenkinscp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jenkinscp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3889\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenkinscp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenkinscp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenkinscp.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}