"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" Matthew 5:5

His name is Norman Jones... but his street name is Thor. If you saw him from afar, you might run the other direction. But as he gets closer and you see the smile on his face and the light in his eyes.. you might just want to hug him. He is one of the few "street men" we know who has no criminal record. He wouldn't hurt a fly. He's a gift giver... he has nothing but the clothes on his back, but he always manages to come bearing gifts for someone on the staff. He doesn't say much at all.... he usually just stares silently and smiles. But the few little words he says usually consist of, "Hi everyone", "Please", "Thank you" and "I love you". If I could use a word to describe Thor, it would be meek. He is very loved.


He hasn't missed a Sunday night worship service, a Monday afternoon AA meeting or a Tuesday visit with the doctor to get vitamins in 6 years. So when we didn't see him on Sunday we got a little worried, when he didn't show up on Monday the AA leader drove the streets looking for him and when he didn't come into the doctor, we just knew. You see... it isn't uncommon for us to lose a few homeless men in the winter every year. Their feeble bodies just can't handle the cold weather and many freeze to death. So yesterday afternoon we got the call... he died alone sometime over the weekend in an abandoned house. But Thor wasn't alone.. Thor was a believer in Jesus Christ. So when his poor sick, cold body passed from this earth, he got to go to a much warmer place. Thor won't ever have to live through another cold winter. He is safe and warm in the arms of the King.



My favorite picture of Thor... kneeling at the foot of the cross to take communion.

Thanksgiving.

Yesterday I was reflecting back on this year and all the things I am thankful for ( I know it's cliche, but it's true) Here are a couple of things that popped into my mind.

The staff and volunteers- Did you know that there are only technically 5 full time staff members at Cross & Crown? But if you walked in on any given day you would swear there are at least 40-50 people working there. That's because they are. We manage to run a full time food ministry, clothing ministry, legal, medical and eye clinic. We also have just begun a community development project with properties in the neighborhood along with multiple youth ministries, childrens programs, addiction recovery and Sunday worship services (just to name a few) We do ALL this with 5 full time staff. That's because there are hundreds of volunteers who CHOOSE to show up on a daily and weekly basis. We are so blessed. I am thankful for the other full time staff members. They all have been given specific gifts that make them amazing at their job. Every day I am reminded of how well the Lord has molded us together for His purpose.

The neighborhood- I am thankful for the women who cook us lunch every day just because they want to, the homeless men who pick up trash in our grass because they want it to look pretty, the men in the neighborhood who mow when the grass gets to high without even asking, and the kids who come bombard my car and shower me with hugs when I get to work every morning. I never take for granted the graciousness of all the precious people who live and love in our precious community.

I am so fulfilled at this point in my life. There are days when I am discouraged, but when I look back on all the many blessings and miracles from this year, I can't help but be excited about the future.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.
Psalm 91:1,2

Is there such a thing as normal? Part II

Today's schedule for comparison...
8:45-10:30 Took a prostitute from the neighborhood to get a state id at Department of public safety
10:30-11:00 Prayer time with all volunteers and staff
11:00 Let in about 200 people for thanksgiving food baskets
11:15 Translated for neighborhood woman who decided to preach about thanksgiving to our entire waiting area
11:30 Carried out t-giving baskets
12:00 Returned emails and made phone calls
12:15 Filled out christmas info on additional families
12:30 Drove to Yukon to pick up video games for Rock Island
1:30 Ate expired Food Bank food for lunch
2:00-5:30 Rock Island after-school program (Lots and lots of Halo 3)
6:00 Drove home

I know that isn't very exciting to read... but I was just making a point to some people who had asked. There is no such thing as normal... and I love it.

What do you want for christmas?

Today my aunt came and videoed part of our elementary christmas rehearsal. She also came out on the playground and asked kids what they wanted for christmas... watch this. Thanks Aunt Dawn!



By the way... which part do you think made me get a little choked up?

Is there such thing as normal?

People always ask.... "What is a normal day like at Cross and Crown?" I don't know what normal would look like, but here is my day today in a nutshell.... I will blog tomorrow and tell you about my day and then we will compare the two. It's an experiment... I'm not sure what normal looks like.

8:30 Arrived at work to see around a hundred people lined up around the block waiting to sign our food list
9:00 Made coffee with Ron for the spanish womens bible study... drank 2 cups of coffee myself
9:30 Began sewing some of the costumes for the neighborhood Christmas nativity.
10:30 Had prayer time with entire staff... laid hands on and prayed for one of our neighborhood women who is in the middle of leaving an abusive relationship. Prayed for her and her teenage son who are basically homeless.
11:00 Opened the door and let in about 150 people for thanksgiving baskets
11:30 Had an intervention with our first 16 year old "youth group prostitute". Confronted her about her behavior and prayed with her.
12:00 Carried 10 billion pounds of thanksgiving food up and down the Cross and Crown stairs (not really 10 billion... but close)
12:30 Called about 30 different people about Christmas adoptions
1:00 Ate Chille Rellenos with homemade tortillas, beans and rice made by one of the neighborhood women
2:00 Burned (and edited) CD's with a few of the Rock Island boys
3:00 Had elementary rehearsal for the Christmas nativity.
4:00 Played outside and ate snack with elementary kids
4:30 Unloaded 50 thanksgiving food baskets and 50 turkeys delivered by my church (Northchurch)
5:00 Sat on the curb and visited with neighbors
6:00 Drove home


I guess you could say today was normal. No major drama. My favorite part... sitting on the curb at the end of the day talking to neighbors.... My least favorite part.... I don't really have one. Today was good.

Lightbulb moments.

Alot of people ask me, "is your job super stressful?' I always answer the same.. the only time I am stressed is when I bring it upon myself. People don't stress me out, tasks stress me out. I have just recently realized that in order to stay relaxed I live from one "lightbulb moment" to the next. A "lightbulb moment" is a little glimpse of success in everyday ministry. It's an alcoholic coming to an AA meeting for the first time, a little street kid memorizing John 3:16 or a prostitute knocking on the door to ask for prayer. The stressful times like fist fights, gang drama and drug dealers don't stress me out... because I live from lightbulb moment to lightbulb moment.

This weekend I experienced one of those moments....

Since the holiday season is fastly approaching, I am in pure christmas decor mode. But, I ran into a road block this past week. I have not a clue how to hang Christmas lights. I am a new home owner and growing up outdoor lights were not one of my chores. My dad and brother always did the outdoor stuff, the girls did the indoor stuff. So when I noticed my neighbors putting up their lights I rushed to my local Home Depot to join in the fun. I had a feeling putting up the lights by myself would be a disaster so I enlisted the help of two Rock Island boys. I made an assumption that because they were boys and mexicans they could put up christmas lights. (Mexicans use xmas lights year around!) So yesterday we made a valliant attempt...after 6 hours and another trip to Lowes... it got dark and we gave up. But that's not the good part...

After the boys spent so long trying, I felt bad and offered to take them to dinner along with two RI girls that had a slumber party at my house last night. One of the boys is very hard to get to know. The only time I have ever heard him speak is if he is one on one with me and no one else is around. When he does talk it is very quiet and in broken english. I have known him for about 5 years and have never heard him pray out loud, say anything about God or prayer, or pay attention during bible studies or church. He seems completely uninterested in the whole God thing. We'll call him D. They decided they wanted RibCrib. So we sat down and ordered. They were all kind of hyper and loud and we were just having a good time. When the food arrived we all started digging in.... and then I heard a mumble in my direction "Can we pray?".... I thought I misunderstood the boy so I asked again. And D said loudly "CAN WE PRAY?" Everyone stopped and stared.. we bowed our heads right there and prayed together. During the prayer I got a little choked up. I began to thank God for each one of them and the young men and women of God they are becoming. I was like a proud mother sitting there with them.

Not that we don't have our dark moments at Rock Island... we do! BUT... every so often we have a lightbulb moment that seems to light the path a little until the next moment comes along.

I'm not alone anymore.

In the past few months we have had over 20 baptisms, and I'm pretty sure I can remember the names of almost all those people, but I want to share a precious story about "Gena", because her baptism is the one that will stick with me for a long time.

A little over a year ago a young woman stumbled into our Monday morning spanish bible study. She looked worn out and had everything she possessed in her car with her, including her two sons. They had just escaped from a horribly abusive home and had absolutely no where to go. They had heard about the bible study from a friend of a friend and didn't know a soul. That very first Monday with her little boys sitting by her side "Gena" shared her story with the entire bible class, and that very first Monday the women in the class passed around a bucket and gave her everything they had. These are women that come to the mission to get food so that they can feed their family and they were giving all their spare change to a complete stranger... that is love.

That was a year ago, since then "Gena" has gotten back on her feet with a job and a home for her children and she hasn't missed bible study since. She has formed a special bond with Suzanne and always comes bearing gifts like cookies and chocolates. This past Monday "Gena" decided to commit her life to Christ and be baptized. There were around 50-75 women there to witness her special moment. Women who a year ago had been strangers, but today are her best friends and accountability partners. Moments before Gena stepped into the baptistry, she knelt before her two sons (ages 7 and 8) in front of the entire sanctuary and apologized to them. She apologized for letting them be abused and not standing up, she apologized for their physical and mental scars, she pleaded with them to forgive her and give her a fresh start... and through many tears the little family hugged and committed to a new life in Jesus Christ.

After every baptism Pauls asks people how they feel and then he writes it in the back of his bible. When he asked Gena she said, "I'm not alone anymore". What special words from a special person. It's amazing how the Lord works. He takes people who are coming to us for something physical (food, clothes, etc.) and He overwhelms them so much with his love that they can't help but leave completely changed. That's good.