Where is your friend Peaches?

“The Joys and Sorrow of The Street”

John and Angel are two of the very first people we met on the street on a snowy Sunday morning several years ago. Some of you may remember the story. Two homeless women that we helped told us, “There are two people sleeping under the bridge two blocks down.” Homeless people watch out for each other. When we arrived, we noticed a pile of blankets under the bridge. Pulling up, we sounded our horn and hollered a “good morning.” A head popped up. It was John. “What’s up,” he asked. I held up our packet of $10 cash, a $10 Dunkin card and our prayer card. John rose to his feet and approached our truck. Taking the packet, he said, “Wow, this is great…thanks, thanks a lot.” Returning to his blankets he gently shook the person who was still sleeping. A tiny head appeared. It was Angel. Holding the Dunkin card so Angel could see it, John smiled and said, “Good morning Honey! Would you like a cup of coffee?” Then John turned to us and asked, “Hey, would you mind hanging out here for a few minutes while I go down one block to get her a coffee? I don’t want to leave her alone.” “No problem,” we said, and then thought: love blossoms in the most difficult of environments. Over the years we’ve come to learn that John can be a rough character. Sometimes that’s a necessary asset when living on the street. Nevertheless, we know that beneath his rough exterior there beats a tender and loving heart.

Last Saturday morning, we sounded our horn once again. John rose to his feet. As he approached our truck it was apparent that he had been beaten up. His face was a mass of cuts and bruises. He was limping and moving as if in pain.

As he came to our truck we asked, “Wow Brother, what happened to you?” He replied with a typical street answer, “I fell down.” We knew that was all the answer we would get and left it alone. We asked, “Where’s Angel?” John replied “I have to find out. They took her to the doctor or some hospital.” The following day Angel was back with John. “What happened to you?” we asked. “Don’t worry,” she replied, “I just had an anxiety attack. I’m okay now.”

“For He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” Psalm 91:11