Oh, my God, WATER!

Sunday, July 24, 2022
This day, God gave us the privilege of serving 26 people.

“Oh, my God, WATER!”

The ‘outside’ temperature on the dash of the pickup read101degrees. As the sun passed east to west across the city, the people moved slowly, seeking out shaded areas. Ed and Penny were tucked away in the shade of the old Telephone Building. Penny looked exhausted, but she brightened when she saw the “On the Street Ministry” truck. Pulling up, we greeted them and extended our gift of $10 cash, the $10 D&D card, and an On the Street Ministry prayer card. They thanked us, but today Penny’s gratitude was focused on other things. “Oh, my God, WATER!! It’s so cold. Can I have two bottles? Do you have enough to give people two bottles? Oh my God, oranges too, and they’re icy cold. You guys are the best! God bless you. God bless you.” We replied, “You’re so welcome, Penny. We’ll pass your blessings along. There are a lot of people who contribute to make this possible.”

As we drove away, I marveled at their gratitude for the simple gift of a bottle of water and an orange, things that I take from my refrigerator without a second thought.

“When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” Benjamin Franklin

“Where is your friend ‘Peaches’?”

We moved on to the north side of the city. We saw Warren standing in the shade of a tree. We’ve met Warren before, he’s a pleasant sort of fellow. He was bent over, pouring water over his head to cool off. Laughing, he told us, “It’s my last half bottle. I probably should be drinking it, but I’m so hot I think it will do me more good on the outside than on the inside.” We gave Warren a “packet,” along with two bottles of water and a couple of chilled oranges. I asked Warren, “Where is your friend ‘Peaches’?” He said, “I was just going to tell you. Peaches is over at the gas station. That’s the only place around here that will let us homeless folks use the bathroom.” We gave Warren another packet for Peaches, along with some water and oranges, and said, “Be sure to tell Peaches we didn’t forget her.” With a big smile, Warren said, “No, no, I’m going to tell her you gave it all to me but I’m such a nice guy I’m going share it with her.” We pulled away laughing and hollered, “She knows you better than that.”

The people we meet “on the street” are good folks who are down on their luck. They are the ones Jesus referred to as, “The least of my people.” He then went on to say, “Whatever you do for them, you do for me.”