Broken Things

Over the last few weeks as most of you know One Table has been shutdown. I know longer have the desire or the emotional strength to name names and throw darts . That would make me no better than people who carried out their evil plan , and it was EVIL, to get rid of the residentially challenged.

Telling those guys who had become my family, telling my BROTHERS they couldn't come in my yard anymore was the hardest, most gut wrenching thing I have ever had to do . In a sense I felt God was closing the door but I couldn't shake the anger for the ones responsible .

I became angry at all the homeowners , it was personal. I was angry with my family and  my husband I just wanted to blame everybody. Society, Government , Churches , you name it I blamed it on everyone and everybody and in some sense I still do.

I began telling anybody that would listen about how I was wronged . I was naming names and calling people out making others aware of their ugliness. I just wanted to be heard , I wanted people to justify my anger and my pain for me , I wanted some relief for this heaviness in my heart but to no avail. I knew I did nothing wrong and I knew it was righteous anger yet for me what it comes down to is that God wasn't moving fast enough with my justice. I just wanted them to hurry up and get theirs.

An injustice was done to me but more importantly to the people I served . God told me to do this and He had protected us every-time the enemy attacked. So instead of just accepting that this was something God allowed to come to pass I focused on the injustice instead of the promise.

The promise that He would never leave me or forsake me.
The promise that If God is for me ,who can be against me?
The promise that ALL things work together for good of those who love Him who have been called according to His purpose .
The promise that says "For I know the plans I have for you, " says the Lord " They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

I had allowed this confusion and lack of faith to cross boundaries in my heart I knew wouldn't please my Father.
I allowed my "feelings " to take precedence over the prompting of the Holy Spirit  to guard my heart.
Anger and bitterness set in, than hurt and depression and in the  state of mind the enemy wanted,  I was broken.

I took the advice of a friend and I had it out with God, not disrespectfully but intensely. Weeping,  I just began to give in and give up thinking He wasn't listening , going with feelings rather than truth.
What I heard at that moment was "What do you want more, the Promise or the justice ?" I know He is not asking me to choose, the word says He will give me both .  My heart chooses the promise in the  spirit that it will lead me on the road to forgiveness because to be honest I'm not there yet but I'm willing to be.

Hours after crying on and off  (crying is not something I do often) God sang me a song through Bethany Dillion and the this is the part He spoke to me :

The same sun rises over castles
And welcomes the day
Spills over buildings into streets
where orphans play
And only you can see the good in broken things.

That is the message I want my brothers to hear and know . That God loves us all the same , that He isn't finished with us yet and He can fix us, He can fix this. He sees the good in broken things. He IS the good in broken things. He will rebuild what the enemy has torn down and it will be better than we imagined. He is not done with us, He is only getting started. As for the pharisees who closed my yard, I don't care if they get theirs or not I just want what's mine and Jesus is mine.

My brothers and I have been taken in by a church family that has loved us unconditionally and been there for us through it all. I can honestly say, though I didn't recognize it before , our small little Nazarene Church was the beginning of Gods promises of healing and restoration. They  treat the poor like they are rich and treat the rich like they are  everyone else . That is the heart of Jesus and we are so grateful and truly blessed.

I posted on facebook that my hand was no longer cold and empty because Jesus was holding it . Now I feel the same about my heart.

To the Church

What happened to us? How did we ever allow ourselves to get to this point. 
At the point where we value property more than people.


Since when did we feel we needed to lure people in with our fancy buildings,state of the art equipment and coffee shops. Don't even get me started on the card swiping.
All I ever needed, was to know He was there.


All Jesus needed was God ,the word, and the Holy Spirit.He didn't need a building nor would it be practical,what could possibly contain Him? 


You greet the same people every Sunday who sit in the same spot who talk to the same people to hear the same messages we have heard a thousand times and still we don't walk it out practically.


We teach our children to share with each other yet when it comes to sharing on the Jesus level we are the ones screaming MINE,MINE,MINE!


We complain about those that are on welfare and food-stamps but the truth is if WE the church lived as the apostles did in the book of acts and lived by the example Jesus set for us and commanded us to , there would be no need for welfare and food stamps. 


I'm disgusted that the church is judgmental and when we go all pharisees on people who don't live up to our standards. Especially when we aren't living up to the standards of the very God we claim to serve.


Its disturbing that we claim to be christians yet the sight of the poor and unwanted sends us to the other side of the street.


Anyone who knows me knows what God called me to do.It has come with a cost. I've lost relationships with my family and friends and I was naive to believe that ALL christians would support me. Yet I get support from people and places I would never expect but isn't that just like God

Having said that,I assure you, the joy way exceeds the sacrifice and the sacrifice we make can never be compared to the sacrifice that was made for us.


As much as I am hurt and disappointed by the church, I still love the church because Jesus does. I pray that God will open our eyes and break our hearts with the things that break His. When we get out of the pew and DO ,than and only than will we see revival.


Church, don't get sucked in by the "business"of church, by the rituals of church,by the routine of church.
Have higher expectations, be teachable.


Our way sucks,it doesn't work. His way works.
Let the Holy Spirit be the Holy Spirit because it is His love and kindness that leads to repentance.


 Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. - Galations 6:1-3 The Message

Keeping Your Word

Keeping your word is one of the most important attributes of your character.
I came to realize the severity of how crucial this was to having integrity when I fell victim to my own flaws.
I have been known to be late. In fact you can almost always bet on it and if  there is one thing you can definitely count on , it's me being late.


That is another post for another time, but I would rather be infamous for being late than be known for not keeping my word.
I have struggled with keeping my word before and my excuse most of the time is that I forget which is true, just not excusable.


I would have to say that most of the time God gets my attention by allowing me to see what it feels like to be on the receiving end of what He wants to change in me and recently I have gotten quite a dose of empty promises and word breaking.


I understand that for most people their intentions are sincere but I have come to realize that it doesn't matter who you are ,where you come from  or whether your rich or poor , Your word has value. It says something about who you are . It tells me whether or not I can trust you.


I have to take keeping my word to heart because I know how seriously I take it when someone doesn't keep their word to me. I don't care if you are a billionaire, if your not a person of your word I know you are not dependable or trustworthy. If you don't have a dime to your name but you never fail to keep your word than you are more valuable to me than all the riches in the world.


God has entrusted my husband and myself to play a small part in a homeless ministry that takes place in our backyard.
I cannot even begin to tell you how imperative it is to this community of people we do life with, for us to keep our word. 


They are used to being lied to, brushed off and forgotten by the world. When it comes to churches and church people who make them promises they can't or won't keep, than Houston ,we have a very serious problem!


I don't think we realize what we are doing when we don't keep our word to those we minister to and disciple. There is already an expectation ,when you say you are a christian, that they assume you can be trusted and then when we don't come through and we don't full fill our commitment it tells them something about us.


 It tells them they can't count on us. It gives the enemy an opportunity to use that against us to destroy our character and create division.
The homeless don't trust each other and they have a hard time trusting the church for numerous reasons so when Christians break there word it breaks something in those individuals because they believe they are suppose to be able to trust us.


People were not designed to be perfect and everyone falls short but this is an area where we can't afford it.
God doesn't just ask us to keep our word, He expects it. Seriously consider the consequences of your actions and the effects it will have on others before you make commitments. It matters!


"But keeping your word is more than just not lying. Keeping your word has more to do with honouring what you said you were going to do, or being faithful to the TRUTH of what you have said. With it goes a determination and tenacity not to deviate from the target act or statement--even if it means a personal cost or hardship in fulfilling the promise or ensuring the TRUTH of the statement."  - S. Kroeger




Numbers 30:1-2
Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: "This is what the LORD commands: 2 When a man makes a vowto the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.




James 5:12 
Above all, my brothers, do  not swear- not by heaven  or by earth or by anything else . Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No,"  no, or you will be condemned

Run Your Own Race

As I continue on the Path God has set before me, the one thing made  clear to me is that it is MY path.
I am very passionate about what we do and it is a journey I wish we would have started years and years ago.
That doesn't mean everyone will feel the same about what we do and maybe their not suppose to.

I don't feel passionate about saving whales or orphanages in India but it doesn't mean I would not participate in supporting them , I just don't have the desire to participate directly.

Many people have come to me and told me how much they really want to get involved in homeless ministry until they find out that its nothing like what they thought it would be and they back off.

Let me just say this, that I absolutely understand. Not everyone is called to do what you do and feel how you feel about it. Remember God put this desire in YOUR heart.

For those that back out, we don't make them feel bad. We are simply grateful that the intention was there and tell them how they can support us in other ways.

I have said before many times I don't have a problem with anyone that tells me they couldn't do what we do but don't ever tell me we shouldn't do it.

Its unreasonable and unfair to share with people about what you do and why you do it and than have the expectation that they are going to feel the same way.

We tell people the truth about what we do and what God has done. The painful and heartbreaking things that we have witnessed are the very things that drive us to keep doing it but it is also what drives others away. Not everyone can handle other peoples reality.

 Most people are very supportive just not hands on. I only know of a few haters that have gone out of their way to try and destroy what God has called us to do but God continues to protect us and pour his favor upon us and I don't forget that we are dealing with an enemy that wants us to fail.

Some people may not desire to become involved directly but almost all of them support us in some way wether it be prayerfully , in kind donations, or monetary donations. Everybody can do something.

Guard your heart and if something doesn't work out the way you thought it would, its for a reason. GOD IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL!

The reason you do what you do is because God equipped you to do it. Those of us that have a heart for hurting people empathize and not everyone can empathize.

Ask your self this question. If you never went through hard times, lost a home, felt unwanted, or unloved and felt rejection would you be able to effectively empathize and feel enough compassion to do the work that you do and make a real difference?

At the end of the day all the glory goes to God anyway. Run your race, follow your path, embrace you're journey because truth be told it all belongs to Jesus.

Its because of HIS race, HIS path and HIS journey that we are able to do what HE calls us to do.

The Good Stuff

I haven't posted in a awhile and those of you who are brave enough to stomach through my ranting know me  enough by now to know  my favorite preference to approaching words and subject matter is  direct so I see no reason in writing this post any differently.

I have been quite busy lately and so has the enemy. I knew coming into this that serving God would not be a picnic 24 hours a day. Sometimes it would be difficult , testing, trying and painful but ALWAYS worth it. 

I traveled to South Carolina to  Christ Central and witnessed the generosity  and unconditional love  poured out to total strangers on a weekly basis . Where I was also welcomed with open arms and treated like a queen by total strangers. Where I was given support practically and lifted up and prayed for diligently and earnestly.

Just to come back to not only zero support of any kind but being talked about behind our backs as if we committed some kind of heinous crime by feeding hungry people. It is evidently frowned upon to love the unloved and since when do you ever think it mattered to God WHERE I loved the unloved  as long as I LOVE them.

In the name of all that is Holy I will NEVER live long enough to EVER wrap my mind around that.

Even though this was never promised to be easy, the people who I call friends, suffer far more injustice than I dare to compare with my little inconveniences. When I am the most hurt and disappointed,when I am angry and torn at the injustice going on against the innocent, when I feel betrayed and abandoned is when I feel the most compelled to pray for my enemies and those who hate me. THATS Jesus!

I have heard  many opinions and solutions on homelessness from people that work with the homeless,  people who have been homeless , and people who serve the homeless, and anyone with a website and a donate button can tell you their opinion. I am no expert on homelessness none of us are . We only know what we experience. 

My experience is that because I love them the way God has shown me and asked me to love them is that its not popular. Its despised ,misunderstood and hated. People I thought loved me and would support me avoid me like the plague and put me in a box on a shelf and only take me out when its convenient. 

Not even the Church, and when I say church I mean people who say they are Christians but walk in fear of walking out the word. They stand for nothing and defend nothing. It is one thing to own the book read it and understand it, it is entirely another matter to believe it, trust it, and apply it and that includes the not so  popular parts too.

I don't know what I'm doing or where God is taking me I just know that loving the unloved is hard and challenging. Their is no denying that and it can only be done in Gods strength.

 However,when I see God changing and  transforming their lives,when I see them delivered from addiction, when I see them get a job,when I see them loving and caring for one another ,when I see God answering their prayers, when I see miracles happening before my very eyes in my little corner of the world, Man.. THATS the good stuff.

Three years ago today my dad died and yesterday  Mr. Ray , an elderly gentleman, had a thin little jacket and it was cold. I had been holding on to my dads work jacket for the past three years not yet able to part with it . I kept thinking about that jacket and came inside to get it and kept trying to find a good reason to keep it.

Well I made it out the door almost in tears and gave Mr Ray the jacket. It was a perfect fit. When he zipped it up and I saw my fathers name on it , I felt more joy giving it to him than any pain I felt letting it go. The Good Stuff!

Every Sunday 15 -20 people come to my house for football and fellowship. We watch the game together,we eat together and  we fellowship together and for a little while they feel human.

I used to be in a hurry for the weekend to get here so I could get out of the house and go off and do something. Now I cant wait for the weekends to come 

 because I know my FRIENDS are coming over. They are the Good Stuff!!!

Miles S. Profit

Miles S. Profit, Do you know who that is? Do you have any idea? Neither did the police when they found his body.  Someone discovered Miles while cutting the grass. He was in the brush behind a Walmart. The last time anyone saw Miles he was leaving a men's shelter on St John Street.


Miles was 61 years old , had grey hair and a ponytail and was from Michigan. According to one of the guys in the shelter Miles kept to himself and was kicked out of the shelter for not collecting his retirement. That of coarse is second hand information but you can decide what to believe , I've already made up my mind that its true based on previous experience and how these shelters are run.


Today, according to the local news and coroners report, we found out that Miles took his own life. As if his death wasn't bad enough that news just cut deeper. I am both sad and sickened at the same time. I have so many thoughts and emotions right now I am sad, angry, hurt disappointed and right back to angry.


All I keep thinking about is how hopeless Miles must have felt that this was his only relief from whatever pain he was enduring. What was going through his mind? Does he have any family ,children, anybody? He was missing since August 25 God knows how long he would have been there because NOBODY EVEN NEW HE WAS MISSING.


I am so pissed right now I could hit something. I'm not mad at God I'm mad at us. I'm angry at a country full of such selfishness, a city so greedy that there only interest in a homeless person is there @#$%^&* social security number. I'm tired of people who care more about  property value in there community than the actual community. That's all I hear "Oh well we don't mind you helping people just not in my backyard. " and apparently not in mine either.


This didn't have to happen. Do you realize you can change some ones life with just a few question. Are you OK ? Is there anything I can do ? What do you need? HOW CAN I HELP?
No one deserves to die alone and no one deserves to die because they see no hope.
The news about Miles was posted through a local news agency on facebook . Some of the comments made  were very speculative and ignorant relating to those who do not have permanent housing.


It  never ceases to amaze me how ignorant grown ups can be. Do yourself a favor and take the time to educate yourself about those in need. Talk to someone on the street , have a conversation ,you would be surprised to find they are really not all that different.


In this economy the face of homelessness is no longer the image of the hobo with his handkerchief and stick or the wino hanging out by the liquor store. Its families,  single mothers, single woman, veterans men and woman who served to protect your country.

 The bible says we will always have the poor. They aren't going away, you can't starve them out , stop there services so that you can sweep them under a rug and pretend like they don't exist. It cost nothing to be kind, It cost nothing to care, It already cost Jesus everything .


Most don't reach out to the needy or unsheltered because of fear and we use so many excuses because we care what everybody else thinks accept the one person we need to please.Well in the words of Christopher Titus "Come down off your cross, use the wood to build a bridge and get over it".


I wrote this because I  want Miles to be remembered , not forgotten.  I've never asked before but I am asking everyone to repost this  everywhere because Miles's story should be , had to be and will be told. My hope is that through this post  someone will listen, someone will hear, someone will care because Miles mattered. 

1 John 3:17-19

The Message (MSG)

 ^16-17This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

When We Practice Real Love

 ^18-20My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.

Mandy Marks Woodhouse

Yesterday, My Best friend and her husband left for South Carolina. I don't know how long she will be gone but I miss her already.She is going up there to be a part of Christ Central,  to learn how to help the needy and to serve. I 'm not good at goodbyes and anybody that knows Mandy knows she's a bit of a crier so when we hugged for the last time I was ready. It took about 20 minutes after they pulled off that I shed the first tear but don't say anything , I  have a reputation to protect.

Mandy Marks Woodhouse is one of the most inspiring, talented , beautiful women I know. Mandy is also an incredible teacher and writer. If there was  one word to describe Mandy it would be LOVE. Mandy knows how to love genuinely and sincerely.
I met Mandy last year , although I feel like I've known her my whole life. She was raised in Louisiana but attended Hillsongs in Australia were she met her husband Carston. They came back here to start what would be the beginning of answered prayer.

Carston led our group on Thursdays and Mandy led our women's group on  Tuesdays and it was at that first women's meeting that my life would never be the same. Mandy brought a group of women together from all walks of life and none of us were anything alike and Mandy grew and nurtured this group into a sisterhood, a den of lionesses, a life line for each other and woman who are genuinely in love with Jesus.

It was this sisterhood that would put together and develop a plan of action to feed , clothe, and love people in need every Saturday morning  which would become "The Breakfast Club".  I don't  think she fully realizes the impact she has had or the people she has infected with her love and generosity.
I have never known a more selfless thoughtful person. She has inspired me in so many ways but Mandy through God  taught me how to love people through anything . She showed me that love works.
What I will miss most is her quirky sense of humor,  her excessive use of un-American phrases  like "arvo", her love of British comedy and the infamous word I will never get out of my head- "bouncy"because she is a Mighty Boosh freak.

Neither of us are perfect and like most REAL friendships we don't agree on everything  but we do agree to be friends in spite of it. I hope she knows that she was  appreciated, I pray she knows how much she means to us and I want her to know that she was valued. I hope  she realizes who her friends are and that we want to do life with her again someday. I pray she knows that my life is changed for the better because she is  in it.  Well if she didn't' know before, she knows now.

You are a treasure Woodhouse and  I am  proud of myself for knowing it. I'm incredibly grateful to God for you! In  life you are my friend, in my heart you are family, in my spirit you're my sister. I love you!