A Homeless Lady Stopped By Today

I was in my office this morning doing some reading when one of our church members dropped in. Jason had come to try to vacuum in a storage closet. After a brief chat, he went to his closet and I peered back into my reading.

About ten minutes passed before I heard footsteps again.

"Hello!" I always call out.

No answer.

"Hello!" I shouted a few more times.

All of a sudden a woman appears in my door. Clearly homeless. I think I've met her before. Middle aged white lady. She'd got a head covering. Mis-matched clothes. And this time no shoes or socks. It's raining outside and about 53 degrees.

"I'm homeless and have no shoes. Do you have any shoes?" she asks.

I tell her "no" and recommend she try a local place about 1/2 mile away. She doesn't ask where or get directions. She knows it. Not interested.

"Do you have any food?"

I tell her "no". And without a word, she turns and leaves.

I'm never entirely sure how to handle this kind of thing. There was a time when someone like that would have asked to sit down, tell me her story. Times seem to be changing. I get a lot less of that these days. Now the typical encounter is more like this. All business. No small talk. Very transactional. No chance to listen. No chance to pray.

I'm not sure that's a good thing. Pray for the homeless lady with no shoes, will ya? Thanks.