Have you ever passed a homeless person and felt your heart sink knowing that you should do something but weren’t sure what? Sometimes when I see a homeless person I feel absolutely incompetent. The need is so great. What could I possibly do to help? Paralysis sets in and I do nothing at all. Fear of failure, fear of being misunderstood, fear of doing it wrong, fear of what they will think.
Well, this season we’re setting fire to fear and doing something as a family to reach out to the homeless in our area. We are putting together Blessing Bags to give away and while it’s small in comparison to the hardship someone living on the street faces, it’s SOMETHING.
What are Blessing Bags?
Blessing Bags are bags filled with supplies and goodies that will bless the homeless. The most popular form of Blessing Bags are quart sized ziplock bags with supplies such as protein bars, gum, a roll of quarters, a calling card, etc. These bags are the perfect size to be passed through the window of your car or stashed in your handbag when you’re visiting an area where the homeless population is more concentrated. Another type is the Blessing Backpack.
These Blessing Bags are our little way of saying:
“I see you”
“You are valuable”
“We are the same”
“It could be me”
I feel a profound sense of unworthiness to say anything regarding their hardship.
I am a healthy, middle class, white woman — who drives a minivan and is baking cookies as I write this. Seriously. I am lucky enough to stay at home with my 3 year old while my two boys catch the bus to go to their safe suburban school with a mountain view.
Even so, I want them to hear:
“You are beautiful”
“You are worthy of love”
“I’m sorry that life is so freaking hard and unequal”
But isn’t it a little insensitive for me to say those things? I mean they are on the street, sleeping on hard cold ground, likely alone. I have no right.
Then before I talk myself out of it I remember the story of the starfish. And making a difference for just one is still valuable, for that ONE. And I know I have to get over myself and do SOMETHING.
I don’t care what anyone says, no one would choose to live on the streets. No one.
Somewhere along the way life hit them squarely between the eyes and they found themselves there. For some, the unimaginable came in the form of horrific abuse they suffered as children, for others because of some kind of loss well into adulthood or a disability of some sort.
Each one has a story.
There is not one box we can put all homeless people into to tidy up the epidemic as a means to wrap our minds around it. If we see them as human instead of addicts, whores, or runaways we might start making some headway.
We are all homeless in one way or another. For some of us it’s obvious, for most of us it’s not. No amount of self help books, yoga sessions, or charity can bring us home. It takes a family. A brother, a sister, a father, a mother. A hand from someone saying:
“You belong”
“I am for you”
“You matter”
So even though accusations try to convince us that we are disqualified to help, we must decide to fight those lies and do something. Even if it is in the form of a small something.
I love what the book of Matthew says about helping the needy:
‘Truly I tell you, WHATEVER YOU DID FOR ONE OF THE LEAST OF THESE BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF MINE, YOU DID FOR ME.’”
The uncreated God made each one of us. We are his handiwork. We are brothers and sisters from the same family. Each of us has a beating heart and a desire for love and respect. A face, a story, indescribable pain and hopeful longing. A need to be acknowledged and accepted.
Every time we reach out and do something kind for someone poor, needy, maligned –with no intention of getting something in return — we acknowledge their value. Their equality. We recognize that we could be right there in their exact situation had the tables been turned.
So in the posts to come I’m going to cover the SOMETHING that we are doing in the form of Blessing Bags for the homeless. I hope that you will feel inspired to do something of your own. Because your voice matters. People need to hear you say with your actions:
“I see you”
“I am for you”
“You are precious beyond belief”
“You are worthy of love”
My brother is a photographer and did a series on the homeless (the photos in this post are from that series). The pictures are stunning and bring so much dignity to the issue. If you are planning on creating these bags with your family it may be helpful to watch the video or look through some of the pictures with your kids and talk about it together.
TAKE ACTION: Most of us have complex feelings about homelessness. Examine your views and decide how you will respond next time your path crosses with a homeless person.
*I originally posted this on my family life and travel blog, Home Sweet Road, but I feel this series better fits the heartbeat of StrongLuv so I’ve moved the series to be hosted here.
