Think about how many people you walk by every single day that you don’t know...

Tonight I volunteered at The Gathering Inn. It's a ministry that many of the local churches participate in. During the winter months different churches will take in the homeless for a night, feed them, and hang out with them. This was my first time so I wasn't sure what to expect.

The first person I met was James. He was very talkative, polite, and smart. He used to do beta testing on video games and different versions of Windows. He has two daughters that are concerned about him, a very long beard that took him about a year to grow, and Jesus is his savior. He dabbled in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Demonology as well. His current interest is conspiracy theories. He doesn't knit and his major was sociology. My job was to make the guests feel welcome and to minister to them, but James was the one really ministering.

Later I met Doc. Doc is a very smiley and curious person. His dad taught a business class at Sierra College which he and his fiance took. They got an A. His dad was also his principal back in Pittsburgh so he wasn't able to get away with much. I didn't get to spend much time with Doc before it was time to clean up.

As I was sitting and just looking at the 60 or so homeless people before me my heart started to break. I thought about James' daughters that are concerned about him, Docs' fiance and father, what these people have been through, and how sweet they are. They treat their conversation with you as a treasure. They make you feel valuable. This is a ministry I want to continue participating in. This is a ministry where you get ministered to and it's an incredible blessing.

At first I wasn't going to post about meeting the Swedish man and you can guess why at the end, but I figured I should considering he was still someone I'd never met before.

Yet again at Borders I didn't even have to approach anyone. A middle aged man sat next to me and we didn't speak for an hour. We were each doing our own thing. After that time he stands up and starts talking to me about my mac, college, his daughter, careers, etc. He is a civil engineer and has a puppy that chews on everything. The conversation was going great until he asked if I could go have a drink with him. I politely declined and he politely left. I felt it odd for him to ask me out when he knew that I was younger than his 25 year old daughter. :x Maybe that's what they do in Sweden?

Donna was an accidental meeting. She had a friend in high school named Mae and added me on Facebook. We continued talking even though I wasn't who she was looking for. Her son is in the Army and has been in Afghanistan since last April and he will be home in 66 days. He joined last February. It has been very hard on her because he is her youngest. I can only imagine how hard that is. Thank you for your service, Justin. Come home safely.

I have always had random people walk up and start talking to me, but none of them were quite as talkative as Frenchy. Frenchy is one of the sweetest old ladies you will ever meet.

Almost immediately when I sat down at a table in Borders Frenchy asked if she could sit there too. I had grabbed Maximilist, a graphic design book, and she had craft magazines. We talked for over an hour about collages, family, faith, and life experiences. Frenchy lost her husband to prostrate cancer. She knows where the best antique stores are. She loves to help others. She is full of love.