Jodi watches the team work on a night when everyone showed up- definitely not the case Sunday. Everyone had a great excuse- Evelyn's been working a second job, Beatrice's brother died, Carroll and Phoebe are on a cruise... Robert came in and made sandwiches while Jodi cut, prepared and cooked everything on her own. I'd tried to talk her into going easy for the night since we knew we had a light crew- thought we'd just buy some burgers or burritos - but Jodi makes the food decisions and she decided to work, work, work! The woman's amazing. After midnight she stood at the sinks and was ready to get to scrubbing pots and pans all on her own. Maudie and I stepped in and gave it our best- don't know if we were just in her way- I even managed to jam up the sink... but we got it all done. There's good reason they call her Saint Jodi! But after scrubbing pans at midnight- next time I'm going to work a little harder to get her to go with burgers.

Each of us has a part to play on Sunday nights, that's Katie, doing her part behind one of the food tables. We left Riverside hoping that Katie, Leslie and Steve would all be meeting us at McDonald's: Leslie's got the flu, Steve didn't make it but Katie pulled in alone and jumped into the van. A large crowd waited for us and everyone covered more than one job- we even recruited a few of the guys in line to help out. My part was handing out the jackets- the line moved past me, everyone anxiously awaiting their meal. Sweatshirts were in abundance, jackets were plentiful and everyone who'd spent a weekend, all day Sunday, getting rained on, welcomed the warm clothes like blessings from Heaven. Quickly slipping past us- a little warmer, more than a smile for their umbrella, plates were filled with food, and everyone was greeted by Jodi, Phil, Maudie, Wil and Katie... funny who God puts together to get the job done. The first night Katie came to the streets with us, just a few months back, she was nervous to come alone. Sunday night we dropped her at her car, waited for her to get it started and hit the road, after teasing her about becoming one of the hard core workers now. It doesn't take too many nights working the line until you fit right in.

No party crossed our path- guess much of Hollywood's elite stayed away from the heart of the city this year. Talking with friends who spend every day fighting poverty, I learned some street names. One is called "BeerMan." We go by people's real names in our lines- avoid street names like the plague... one more way to remind men and women that there's still a connection, a way, home. They're not trapped by the life they've embraced... no matter how tightly it might squeeze them. Beerman's a decade older than me, very well educated, he now lives selling cigarettes and beer on the streets. It's his retirement plan. He doesn't know the birth names of the people he spends his days with- they don't know his. They've each created their own new reality... like actors... desperate to play a part that will help them make it through the day. No one gives awards. No one comes with limos. No one watches on TV. No parties: just beerman... maybe a smoke, a drink, something, anything to dull the pain of being overlooked... of so many walking by, when they're giving the performance of a lifetime. The Oscars will always miss them. Jesus never forgets. He's sent us... Jackets for Jesus... each of us come from households filled with their own special challenges... each of us feel blessed to play our own special part... to work with someone as wonderful as Beatrice- pray for her as she lay's her brother to rest... to serve someone with the need and heart of beerman... he's created a reality that will be nearly impossible to step away from... it's even his name... pray for him. We have so little time on the streets each week, yet it occupies so much of our hearts and thoughts in the days in between, pray that we can make the most of our moments. I'd like every Sunday night to be a little bit of a party, maybe not the Oscars but a celebration of life and an invitation to a new and deeper joy. We're going this Sunday night, you're invited... you're needed, now, more than ever.

for changing lives,

Eric M. Denton