The heart of a volunteer

I volunteer with a woman named Sandy. Sandy is a retired social worker who lives at home with her husband as her son and three step-children are off starting their adult lives. I have never seen anyone show love more significantly than the way Sandy shows it to everyone she sees.

While many staff members and volunteers are busying around with cleaning and administrative work, Sandy floats around the community space with her cup of coffee, talking to everyone she can—the beautiful part is that those conversations don’t stop at “Hello.” She digs deep. She listens to life-stories with emotion and enthusiasm. She hugs, she holds hands, she compliments…volunteers, staff, and community members alike, she makes people feel entirely worthy of her time.

I talk a lot about the power of showing love through conversation—Sandy is a very true-to-life, tangible example of that concept. There is no better way to make a person feel loved than to listen to what they have to say. That is something The Listening House is focused primarily on (hence the name). In-depth conversation is a very basic foundation of humanity, not to mention one of the easiest ways to bring the oppressed and forgotten back to life.

Don’t ever underestimate the power you hold with your words, and don’t be afraid to speak love.

Until next time, love.

-Jess

Debra

Yesterday morning was my third week volunteering at The Listening House in St. Paul, MN. I think we’ve all learned that it’s human nature to stay away from the uncomfortable. For that reason, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous upon my first day of volunteering at a new place. That was a short three weeks ago, but yesterday when I walked through The Listening House’s doors, all I felt was comfort and love. I get to greet community members by name, ask how life has been since I last saw them, and they ask how I am doing in return—interactions that are not driven by some sort of indirect form of therapy in which one person gives and the other receives…these are relationships.

Yesterday, I met Debra for the first time. After the morning rush calmed a bit, people had settled in couches and chairs, leaving the front desk more or less empty. Debra hung around. She offered to help when she saw that the task I was working on required more than my own two hands. We got to talking and she showed me pictures of her four daughters. She told me about each of them: Suzette, the diva; Kandice, the reader; Kendall, the talker; and her youngest, Delia, the fighter, born nine weeks premature and still kicking. She told me about her experience taking each one of them home from the hospital. She was beaming as I listened to her life.  When other community members came to the desk asking for razors or soap once we had run out, Debra would dig through her bag and give out extras of her own.

Our conversation soon ended, Debra left, and my volunteer shift came to a close. But I thought about her all day. And I sincerely hope to see her next time I’m at The Listening House. See, we didn’t talk about God at all, but Debra knows how to love people better than most Christians I know. She shows it and she makes sure they feel it. We can all learn something from people like Debra–learn how to love, learn about strength, and learn about giving.

If I can encourage you all in anything today, it would be this: don’t be afraid to go beyond your levels of comfort to show love to the people who need it.

Until next time, love.

-Jess

The Listening House

Yesterday, I experienced life at The Listening House in St. Paul, MN. What I mean by that is that there is true life and energy in that place. I have volunteered at soup kitchens and shelters in the past and, from my perspective, everything felt very dead. People came in, got their food or their place to sleep, and then kept to themselves for the entirety of their stay. At The Listening House, there was community, love, fun, family.

The Listening House is not a soup kitchen, nor is it considered a shelter. Not to be repetitive, but the only term or title I can think to describe it’s mission is that it is a community. They open Monday through Friday every week, during breakfast, lunch, and dinner times. They don’t serve meals. They serve coffee and pastries. They offer couches, chairs, and air conditioning. They provide community members with toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, shaving cream, towels, soap, deoderant, a place to bathe, socks, clothing, batteries, stamps, envelopes. And that list is not by any means exhaustive. They have guitars, chess boards, cribbage, and old computer games available for people to play at their liesure. They receive the mail directed toward each community member and distribute it daily. They have phone stations on which people can call their friends and family members. They are a home.

When I went to volunteer here for the first time yesterday, I was a bit intimidated, simply because I did not know what to expect. When the doors opened in the morning, it was a mad rush to the front dest to get toiletries and clothing. Everyone wanted to put their name in the “work box” in hopes of being drawn at random for different chores that needed to be completed around the facitlity–in return for which, they would receive a predetermined amount of tokens that are good for various things around the city.

Once things calmed down a bit, we just got to visit with the residents. I met dozens of new, homeless friends. We chatted over coffee. I heard bits and pieces of life-stories and I told bits and pieces of mine.

Everyone in that place was craving the same thing: relational love. From what I’ve seen thus far, that is what The Listening Houseu provides–relationships…not some sort of social experiment in which observations of this lifestyle can be made. For that reason, all volunteers are required to commit to at least three months of service so that true relationships can be built, not simple, fleeting moments.

I will be volunteering weekly, so stay tuned for more stories. In the meantime, check out their website here.

Until next time, love.

-Jess

What do you have to give?

A major topic on which I have been focusing my thoughts this summer is the realm of giving. I am a young college student with an unsteady, low-paying job at best. I have school loans that will be strapped to my ankles for the next ten years and rent to pay right now. It’s a daunting thought to give my money away.

This month, I have been reading the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Chan spends an entire chapter discussing this idea of giving. To borrow from his own words, “Another important element of giving is with our time. Most of us are so busy that the thought of adding one more thing to our weekly schedule is stressful. Instead of adding in another thing to our lives, perhaps God wants us to give Him all of our time and let Him direct it as He sees fit.”

If that passage is not laced with conviction in your mind, I question your receptiveness to conviction in general. It speaks truth that we are all thinking: I don’t have any more time to sacrifice. But seeing it put to words leads me to realize how ridiculous a statement that really is. Sure, our time is not infinite. But we are so flippant and wasteful with our time in areas that bring us direct pleasure. The second we are called to use our time for others, we don’t have anything left to give.

Chan tells a story about a friend of his who faithfully gave 20 percent of his income to God. When his income then experienced a pretty drastic drop, everyone in his life would have deemed it justified for this individual to down-shift his giving to 10 percent. Instead, this man increased his giving to 30 percent. As a result, God blessed him with more than he needed.

My point with all of this is that we so often jump to conclusions and declare to the world that we have nothing to give…and that is completely false. I challenge you all (myself included) to reevaluate what you have and what you are willing to “sacrifice.” Let us not focus solely on our own comfort. Borrowing from Chan again, “[God] calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn’t come through.”

Until next time, love.

-Jess

(For more of my thoughts on Crazy Love by Francis Chan, head to my personal blog: www.jessmansour.wordpress.com)

What does it mean to be poor?

A recurring thought of mine this month has been about the true meaning of poverty. A Biblical concept that, as I’ve observed, has become fairly easy to ignore is that those who are poor by the world’s standards can be considered rich in the eyes of the Lord. Contrasting, those who are rich according to worldly standards are considered poor in they eyes of the Lord.

It seems that American Christianity has become almost solely dependent on the comfort of the participants. I think that we all need to re-evaluate the call God has placed on our lives as Christ-followers. It is a call that requires a full surrender. That means we must be willing to give up everything to follow Him. Everything.

I came across a passage from Robert Murray M’Cheyne in a book I’ve been reading. The late Scottish pastor said the following:

I am concerned for the poor, but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you in the Great Day…I fear there are many hearing me who may know well that they are not Christians because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudgingly at all, requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money. Oh my friends! Enjoy your money; make the most of it; give none away; enjoy it quickly for I can tell you, you will be beggars throughout eternity.

We can make a choice not to make our earthly possessions or wealth a spiritual disadvantage. As I have heard it said, prosperity hardens the heart. May we learn what it means to love to give.

Until next time, love.

-Jess

Barry

I was driving to St. Paul the other day when I met Barry. I drove down 35E and took the exit to Grand Ave, a route so familiar to me. When I approached the stoplight at the end of the exit, however, I saw something somewhat unfamiliar for that place. A man was standing on the corner holding a fraying cardboard sign that read, “Anything will help. God bless you.” His clothes were different shades of brown and there was a small bag resting at his feet. The only thing that caught me off-guard about this sight was the big smile plastered across the bottom half of his face. It was glowing against his dark skin. He smiled and he waved to the cars as they passed; he greeted them.

As the first car to stop at the red light, I was directly beside him. I reached for my wallet only to find a flimsy driver’s license and an old library card. I rolled down my window and he walked toward me. I told him I had no money to give him, but he smiled anyway and said, “That’s okay, Honey!” I asked him his name, we talked about the weather a bit, he commented on my crazy red hair. We continued our conversation until the perpendicular lines of traffic started to slow. Acknowledging the impending green light, Barry looked at me and said, “Thank you for talking to me. No one ever talks to me when they stop at the light. They wave as they drive by, but the second they have to stop, they just stare straight ahead.” He told me to stop by his corner again and I said that I would.

As the light shifted from red to green, I waved to Barry and started driving. He waved back and then turned back to the line of cars with his big smile. As I drove, I thought about Barry smiling at and talking so freely with strangers. He wasn’t hostile or angry upon realizing I had no money to give him. It was just as his sign said, “Anything will help.” Lacking most of the basic resources necessary for a comfortable life, he was really just craving social interaction. He was craving a conversation, a simple conversation.

Even if you have no tangible gifts to give, just try talking to the homeless people you see. Or simply smile and wave like Barry. You can transform their day, and they can just as easily transform yours.

Until next time, love.

-Jess

Season of Change

As the season shifts from spring to summer, we face one of the busiest transitions of the year. As a college student, I have been swamped for the past month. Final projects, final exams, final portfolios, final papers…I know I’m not alone in feeling that the bulk of a semester’s work is packed into the last month of classes.

So now I sit at my regular coffee shop, the last bit of my school responsibilities having been completed this morning. With those responsibilities no longer hanging over my head, I am now able to look back and see how preoccupied I have been all month (as can likely be realized in my lack of posts).

So this afternoon, rather than researching Paul’s writings in Ephesians or the history of contemporary poetry, I researched homelessness. I came across many articles and facts that I have heard before, and many that I have relayed to you all. Sometimes statistics can be heavy and dense–so much so, that they lose virtually all of the intended emphasis. So today I want to focus on one statistic. It is much easier to meditate on a single statistic, much easier to mull it over in your mind and let the weight of it truly sink in.

Today’s stat: There is not one county in the U.S. in which a full-time minimum wage worker can afford a one-bedroom apartment at fair market rent.

Also, I found a really great resource from the National Alliance to End Homelessness. On their website, they have an interactive map in which you can type the name of any U.S. city and it will display information on the rate of homelessness in that area. In typing in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I found that depending on the area, the rate of homelessness has either increased or remained constant (since 2008). This map, along with the other resources at NAEH’s site are great tools to educate yourself about homelessness in our country. Check it out here.

Let’s choose to make this a season of change…a season in which we choose boldness rather than fear, love rather than neglect or selfishness.

Until next time, love.

-Jess

Homeless Teenagers

Surveying our previous posts, we have discussed different realms of homelessness, such as homeless women, homeless youth, and even homeless animals. My attention has been caught most recently, however, by homeless teens–this realm of young adults that often goes un-thought of, sandwiched between helpless children and seemingly self-sufficient adults.

Last week, the Star Tribune posted an article on teenage homelessness in the Twin Cities area. They included many of the statistics from the Wilder Foundation that we put in one of our posts a couple weeks ago, one of which states that then number of 18-21 year-olds living in shelters in Minnesota has more than doubled since the 455 counted in 2006, as it now rests at 987. As always, it must be noted that this is only the number of individuals who have the opportunity to reside in these shelters. With the alarming increase of homelessness in our area during the last few years, shelters now have waiting lists on which hundreds of names sit, unable to be served.

One of the most prominent reasons these teens and young adults now face homelessness is because an increasing number of families’ homes are facing forclosure, leaving parents unable to care for their older children. Legally considered adults, these parents push their kids away, forcing them to fend for themselves. The legal age of adulthood, however, doesn’t bring with it the necessary life-skills for survival in this economic crisis.

To read more of the Star Tribune’s article, go here. There are some interviews and quotes from some of the homeless teens themselves. I encourage you all to check it out.

Until next time, love.

-Jess

A New Look

How do you live? How do you think others in America are living?

With the crime rate skyrocketing, making it the highest population of gun-violence and crime in America, Detroit has become a city of despair. A city that once was booming and the maker of top-of-the-line vehicles, now to shambles.

As I was writing invitations for my upcoming graduation this past Sunday, a news story on NBC’s Dateline, “America Now: A City of Heartbreak and Hope,” came on the television. I was intrigued by the pictures and voices I was seeing and hearing. People from America’s “motor city,” Detroit, out of work, without homes, without the ability to make a decent living.

I had heard about Detroit’s auto market being shut down but I didn’t realize it was as bad as it is.

I was glued to my television screen the whole time this story was on. Listening to the people of Detroit who are in despair but also listening to their stories of hope. The story made me think to realize I don’t know what is happening even in a neighboring state. I encourage you to watch this story. Watch it and let me know your thoughts and opinions about it.

Until next time — be blessed.

-Kendall

Finding Significance

A recent thought of mine that has been very clearly mirrored in my last few posts is the concept of looking at the homeless and seeing the face of Jesus. We’ve all heard his words repeated over and over: “As you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.”

Meister Eckhart said, “What is the test that you have indeed undergone this holy birth? Listen carefully. If this birth has truly taken place within you, then every single creature points you toward God.”

Do you find something significant, meaningful, and even holy in your everyday experience? Do look at the face of a homeless person and see the face of Jesus?

Rob Bell says the way you treat the creation reflects how you feel about the Creator. Likewise, how you look at the creation reflects how you look at the Creator.

Changing the way we view things and people is a choice we have to be intentional in making. We need to wake up.

A short thought, but an important one, nonetheless.

Until next time, love.

-Jess