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Father's Day on the Streets |
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| incredible people |
June 18, 2007 |
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Greetings!
Serving... it's what Jodi does best. She works full time, is a wife, mother and grandmother and loved on the streets as the one who remembers special days for guys who are forgotten by most. Last night Jodi and her team had bbq'd chicken, macaroni salad, baked beans along with the rest of our weekly standards. Everyone was thrilled to share the great meal. I smiled watching Jodi serve. She has so many people to remember on Father's Day... and she still found time for the guys she never forgets. Little wonder she's so well loved by both those of us who serve along side her and those we serve each week. Her love and faithfulness are an inspiration to us all. If you don't know Jodi... she's reason enough to join us some Sunday evening.
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A Very Long Trip to The Streets |
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An executive position! It's what Bart's brother Jap, visiting Jackets for Jesus for the second time- all the way from Holland, asked for Sunday night. He figured with one week's experience and a year's worth of email updates, he was ready to move up the line... we couldn't think of a higher spot then between Jodi and Beatrice... I know he was pleased to serve. His first trip, like that of most people from out of the country, was one of disbelief. So often people don't believe the US has "real" poverty. This year, he was ready to be more than a tourist and it was easy to see that the service Bart and Phil give each week runs in the family. His heart was warm and open and I made a point of pointing him out and asking everyone to speak anything but English to him... I don't know if we challenged his multi-lingual skills or not, but he had the opportunity to share with numerous people. Jap's become a good friend and for those of you that travel back and forth to Kenya, you know how important it can be to have a good friend in Amsterdam. I actually look forward to longer layovers there in the future! I figure if Jap can serve with us a couple of times a year, all the way from Holland, few of us have an excuse for getting involved occasionally.
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Serving in Silence |
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Serving through the heartbreak... that's my father-in- law, Wil. Sunday was his first Father's Day since Gary, his only son, died far too young of lung cancer. It's been a rough year in the family and I find myself slipping into silence about the losses that one never anticipates. Gary was such a good guy and I know that Sunday was a rough day for dad. It would have been really easy for him to stay home and avoid looking so many other father's sons, living far from the family... but living, when his son is dead. But he didn't and he made me proud. He was pretty quiet most of the day, didn't talk much going to the streets or coming home and I noticed he wasn't his usual self with every guy coming through line, but he was there, suiting up and showing up, through the pain. Being a dad's not always easy and dad was a great example to us all, serving in silence, not asking for the sympathy of anyone but continuing to move forward through it all. God's good and one of the many good things he's given me in life is the opportunity to serve side by side with my father in law. I couldn't have asked for a nicer father's day gift Sunday.
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When Things Go "CLUNK!" In The Night |
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Our Faithful Van's in the midst of a transmission overhaul. A good lesson to stick to the plan. It would have saved us some money. When we bought the van, our plan was to replace it every 3 years with a new one- hand the old one off to Central Community- who pay's the auto insurance on it -hand Central Community's off to Siempre and it that way keep things moving... the van's been going great- so we pushed our luck and the transmission's shot. Sunday night, Angie was kind enough to caravan people in her car and we loaded my truck with eight of us, hooked the trailer on the back and headed to the streets. When I bought the truck, it was for His Work, so no biggie. It's got almost 111,000 miles on it, mostly running back and forth to Mexico, always with the same message on the license -HERE4JC. It's what we want to be about. Even own the domain name - here4jc.com. Week in and week out people ask me the same question: "Do you still go to the streets every Sunday night?" I always feel like saying: "Are there still poor people?" Instead, I smile and say "Yes." Tell them about our work and invite them to take part... it's why we do what we do... we're here4jc. To each of you that support our work with your prayers, finances, jackets, hard work and loving encouragement- thanks - it's not a big enough word, but thanks. The night's one of you join us are always the best. We're going this Sunday night, you're invited, hopefully we'll have our van back... or if you'd like to give to our "New Van Fund" it's up and running... again... before something else breaks. You're loving support is needed, now, more than ever, before something else goes "clunk" in the night.
for changing lives,
Eric
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Jackets for Jesus | 5623 Arlington Ave | Riverside | CA | 92504 |
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