A tragedy: "Once upon a time, in REAL LIFE, today while I was at the laundry-mat..."
So today I went to the laundry-mat. After I had been there for a while, a homeless couple came in. They were dirty, and loud, and angry, did not seem to be wholly in their right mind, yelling at each other in language I am not sure a drunken sailor would understand. The laundry-mat was pretty full, and all of us got quiet, and focused on our own laundry and moved as far from them as we could. I sat praying.
After they had been there for a little while, a man came in. One look at the grin on his face, and one glance in his eyes and you could see he knew and loved Jesus. He walked up to the homeless man and hugged him saying, "Hi, Jake. My friend! I have missed you. Hi Sally. How about if I go get our dinner?" The man (the couple called him Carlos) left for a bit and came back with pizza and ate dinner with them, chatting and talking and laughing with them while they all ate. While he was there the couple was peaceful and quiet and calm and pleasant.
Not long after Carlos left, an Asian woman made the colossal error of trying to use one of the washers near the couple. They became extremely violent, loudly cussing her out and threatening her. When trying to reason with them proved quite useless, the woman moved away. They said they were waiting their turn to use the dryers and she could just %#$@)!?*&#@$ wait her turn. (There were plenty of empty dryers but they made no move to put their closes in any of them...in fact Jake would tell Sally off and on that he had already dried the clothes.)
Soon after that Sally began to yell and cuss at Jake and saying he had lost her shoes. Soon she was sobbing inconsolably -- first calling Jake every name in the book, then sobbing 'what will I do. I am going to cut my feet all up, what will I do?' Soon she began to say, "I want to get out of here -- get me out of here." Pretty gently Jake said, "OK", and he piled clearly wet clothes and blankets (all the while assuring Sally that they were dry) into a shopping cart and they left.
Soon after they left I noticed that one of the washers they had used still had cloths in it. I took it out and put it in a couple of dryers ... and yes, found the missing shoes in the washer with a blanket and all kinds of other stuff. I thought / hoped the couple might come back for it and at least it would be dry. I thought that when I finished my laundry I would drive around a bit and try to find them ... at least to tell them the clothes --- and Sally's shoes --- were back at the laundry-mat drying. Before I finished Jake came in -- alone. I caught his eye and told him his clothes were in the dryer, showed him which dryer and told him that Sally's shoes were in the dryer, too. He was polite and calm. Thanked me profusely. I told him that in about 1/2 hour the clothes would be dry. He thanked me again and again.
Within a couple of minutes I finished my laundry, and as I was taking it out to the car I noticed Jake with the (clearly still wet) clothes from the dryers, saw him walking toward a very dark corner near the laundry-mat, and heard him say ~ very sweetly and gently to Sally ~ "I'm here...I am coming."
This hit me so very hard! I have just cried off an on since I got home. I know about homelessness. You see the homeless here and there. But it is haunting me that somewhere out in very cold night Jake and Sally are huddled somewhere in wet clothes and wet shoes with wet blankets. They could have let them dry... Jake didn't for what ever reason. I did what I could, not all I could perhaps ~ honestly, I know it wasn't much -- a few quarters for two loads of laundry...I was afraid of them . . . they were pretty frightening and very belligerent and violent most of the time. Their friend, Carlos, it seems keeps tabs on them ... loving them in a very real and tangible way. And, I guess, doing all Jake and Sally will let him do.
So if you pray, please pray for Jake and Sally. Also pray for Carlos.
After they had been there for a little while, a man came in. One look at the grin on his face, and one glance in his eyes and you could see he knew and loved Jesus. He walked up to the homeless man and hugged him saying, "Hi, Jake. My friend! I have missed you. Hi Sally. How about if I go get our dinner?" The man (the couple called him Carlos) left for a bit and came back with pizza and ate dinner with them, chatting and talking and laughing with them while they all ate. While he was there the couple was peaceful and quiet and calm and pleasant.
Not long after Carlos left, an Asian woman made the colossal error of trying to use one of the washers near the couple. They became extremely violent, loudly cussing her out and threatening her. When trying to reason with them proved quite useless, the woman moved away. They said they were waiting their turn to use the dryers and she could just %#$@)!?*&#@$ wait her turn. (There were plenty of empty dryers but they made no move to put their closes in any of them...in fact Jake would tell Sally off and on that he had already dried the clothes.)
Soon after that Sally began to yell and cuss at Jake and saying he had lost her shoes. Soon she was sobbing inconsolably -- first calling Jake every name in the book, then sobbing 'what will I do. I am going to cut my feet all up, what will I do?' Soon she began to say, "I want to get out of here -- get me out of here." Pretty gently Jake said, "OK", and he piled clearly wet clothes and blankets (all the while assuring Sally that they were dry) into a shopping cart and they left.
Soon after they left I noticed that one of the washers they had used still had cloths in it. I took it out and put it in a couple of dryers ... and yes, found the missing shoes in the washer with a blanket and all kinds of other stuff. I thought / hoped the couple might come back for it and at least it would be dry. I thought that when I finished my laundry I would drive around a bit and try to find them ... at least to tell them the clothes --- and Sally's shoes --- were back at the laundry-mat drying. Before I finished Jake came in -- alone. I caught his eye and told him his clothes were in the dryer, showed him which dryer and told him that Sally's shoes were in the dryer, too. He was polite and calm. Thanked me profusely. I told him that in about 1/2 hour the clothes would be dry. He thanked me again and again.
Within a couple of minutes I finished my laundry, and as I was taking it out to the car I noticed Jake with the (clearly still wet) clothes from the dryers, saw him walking toward a very dark corner near the laundry-mat, and heard him say ~ very sweetly and gently to Sally ~ "I'm here...I am coming."
This hit me so very hard! I have just cried off an on since I got home. I know about homelessness. You see the homeless here and there. But it is haunting me that somewhere out in very cold night Jake and Sally are huddled somewhere in wet clothes and wet shoes with wet blankets. They could have let them dry... Jake didn't for what ever reason. I did what I could, not all I could perhaps ~ honestly, I know it wasn't much -- a few quarters for two loads of laundry...I was afraid of them . . . they were pretty frightening and very belligerent and violent most of the time. Their friend, Carlos, it seems keeps tabs on them ... loving them in a very real and tangible way. And, I guess, doing all Jake and Sally will let him do.
So if you pray, please pray for Jake and Sally. Also pray for Carlos.
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