Atl. 20.
Tonight, after $2 sushi in the Village (praise), I went downtown to meet Dee, a friend I met at the Original Event over spring break who now attends Georgia Tech, for coffee at Octane. We had a really great conversation about faith, and church, and life ambitions; it was an encouraging discussion with someone who shares many passions for and goals about both ministry and missional living. Afterwards, we went and met with a couple of her friends from her campus ministry at Wachovia Park where one guy, Richard, had brought a ton of warm food to serve to all of the homeless that live there in the park. I have never met homeless people quite like the ones I met tonight. I talked a long time to Jerry, who shared a good part of his life story. He was so kind, so polite, and so funny. He never begged or complained; he just wanted to talk to me. He was so… Real. He thanked me for coming out to talk to him and give him some food. And then he just said, “Well, I’ve got to go try and claim a bench to lay down on for the night.” And that was it. He left. And now I’m typing this while sitting in a comfy bed.
This sucks.
After talking with Jerry, I started talking to a man named James. James may have been one of the happiest people I’d ever encountered. He literally never stopped smiling. He told me his whole life story. This was a man who had truly lived. He was born and raised in LA (he had the West Coast accent too), and then he moved to Canada for construction work, and then to Pittsburgh for steel work, and then back to LA to be with family after both of those jobs folded. He eventually went to Atlanta to try and work, and now he had nothing left. He told me how he used to deal dope in LA, and how it was good money, but he gave up on the lifestyle. He told me about the rough divorce between him and his ex-wife, and he told me about how he missed his kids and what all they were doing in California now. He never stopped smiling, but there were times when his eyes were distant and sad, and it broke me heart. This man was a life; he was not just some guy to feed and talk to. He’s no different than me. Why do I let such hard times fall on brothers and sisters who didn’t deserve them any more than I deserved good times?
There’s one more guy I want to tell you about: Joseph. As I was leaving, he shook my hand and told me his name. He said he used to not like his name until he realized that it was the name of the man who was chosen to be the father of Jesus, and then he realized that his name was important. I told him it wasn’t just Jesus’ dad’s name, it was his own name, and that he had a life story that was going to be important too. He said, “Oh, I’ve got a story. Come back next week and I’d love to tell you all about it!” Joseph was a big, jolly older man who shook some when he chuckled at this statement. I told him I’d be there, waiting to hear about his life. As I got back in the car, I told Dee how much I liked Joseph. She said that he told him, “I’ve got a day job right now, but I found out it’s closing in 12 days.” She asked, “Aren’t you worried about what you’re going to do after that?” Joseph replied, “No. No, I’m just going to seek first His kingdom.” And he left it at that.
Honestly, sometimes I wonder if the Kingdom was meant for people like me. Because people like Joseph have more faith than I’ll ever know; they actually know what it means to rely totally on God.
God, bless them for it.
Tonight I also picked up Jeff and Andre at the airport. They just got back from Guatemala, so things will be returning to normal here soon.
Design: I worked at the house for most of the day today. I was in a really creative mood this morning, and finally had a concept for a recyclable tote bag design for GiftCardGiver to resell at its events. Gift Card Giver plays on the idea of taking unused gift cards and recycling them by “regifting” them to people in need. Regifting is a word normally used as a social faux pas at the Christmas party, but in GCG’s case, it’s a great way to help others. The tote bags coincide with the theme of recycling by reducing negative effects on the environment by reusing the tote instead of plastic. So I meshed these two streams of thought together for the tote bag design. I made the recycling triangle-arrow symbol in Illustrator, and then placed a vector of the earth between one set of arrows, a vector of plant life between another set, and the GCG logo between the bottom set of arrows. The theme, then, for the bag is “Reduce, Reuse, Regift.” It tells GCG’s story graphically, it promotes the brand through its logo’s placement, and it details the organization’s interest in the environment. Today, I felt like I made a good design, not because it was visually spectacular, but because I felt I had a clever concept behind the design. Also, I made it all in Illustrator, so I am really getting more comfortable with that software.
