The hooker and the homeless hang out on Harry Hines Blvd. It’s not normally in my path, yet recently I was compelled to travel Harry Hines. It’s definitely gotten better over the years, but…

I always make sure it’s daylight

My doors are locked

My purse is out of sight

I know EXACTLY where to exit

I35 was CLOGGED from a wreck, so I had taken the route up Harry Hines Blvd to get out of downtown Dallas. So across town and up Harry Hines I proceeded.

I figured:

It’s broad daylight

It’s only about 4 miles to get around this snarled traffic

My doors are locked

I’m safe

OK, let’s go!

As I pulled into the left hand turn lane, I double-checked my doors to ensure they were locked.

WHY?

There was a homeless man, a bum, begging at the intersection. I, in turn, begged God, PLEASE let the light stay green. Please Lord…

Yet that light flashed to red as my flesh crawled all over me.

“Look at Me,” I clearly heard.

What? Where? I thought as I started digging into my purse. It’s my custom to carry snack and protein bars, so I reached over to probe for protein to provide this homeless man. I figured if his sign reads, “Will work for food,” I will hand off some food instead of some cash that may be used to drown his sorrows or snort them away.

Stereotyped. Yep, I admit it, guilty as charged.

So out came a couple of bars, down rolled the window as my fingers stretched out to hand (I really wanted to drop it!) off my guilt offering. The whole time, I was thinking, please don’t touch me…

Again, “Look at Me.”

Curious and concerned, my eyes swept up the disheveled figure of a man. Clad in khaki shorts, several layers of shirts, a vest and clunky boots, this man looked comfortable outside yet not totally unkempt. His face was masked by a massive beard and his head was capped, literally, by a huge bush of hair threaded with gray and covered with a fur-lined cap, ear covers tied up.

I was captivated, simply captivated, by what I saw and felt. Our eyes met and locked onto each other, our hands brushed as he took the bars from me.

Exquisite aqua blue eyes looked into mine as he said, “Bless you, my child.”

In the midst of hookers and the homeless, I found H O P E…

He lives

He breathes

He loves

 

And I found Him in the least likely locale.

Or was it the most likely?

What else am I avoiding, God?

Where else do You want to meet me?

Pull my defenses down as You open my heart to You, O Lord.

Past my defenses and defensiveness.

Past my offenses and offensiveness

Make me useful for You, O Lord

Can we meet again at Harry Hines and Regal Row? I would be honored to lock eyes and arms with You…and Your children.

Proverbs 14:31 (NIV) Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

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