Like many, much of what I thought I knew about homelessness was from seeing people on the street, under bridges, or in temporary tent cities.
But God showed me it’s so much more.
Homelessness is something that can happen to anybody.
After what most would consider a successful career, I entered a time of significant loss. I faced cancer, lost a family member to addiction, surgeries, changed jobs multiple times, struggled to provide for my family, and ultimately a business partner stole a business we built, leaving my family and me with nearly nothing.
During this time, I slept in my car for a few nights. Then, as I learned to “let go” of the most precious things in my life and had to deconstruct some of my views about God, I ended up in a place where I found what I had always wanted: contentment and joy.
My intense struggles and discovering a God who is much bigger than I ever imagined increased my sensitivity and caring for those in need. I’ll never look at things the same, and I started identifying as one of “the least of these.”
I love the work of Nashville Rescue Mission. I’m so grateful for the dedication and passion they demonstrate. The way their counseling digs down into the issues an individual may be dealing with, giving them a faith to hold on to, pointing them to God our Creator, and providing them with the basic needs of shelter, food, and clothing is simply amazing and heart-warming.
The closer I get to understanding the lives and needs the homeless face each day, I also see why Jesus was so focused on recognizing them for the simplicity they had in their life and the utter dependence on Him and others around them. It’s a beautiful and challenging picture of the community we all need to be part of!
When you see the men and women who are being helped as I have, you can’t help but open your heart more to them and to Nashville Rescue Mission as a whole. Without the Mission, thousands of people over a year would have a much more difficult path. To think of others who have entered the Mission’s program and are now living on their own or in transitional housing, working at a job to help support them, it is one story of redemption after another. This is a model for how to love God and love others!
Nashville Rescue Mission should be supported and championed by everyone in Nashville. It is critical for our city as it helps people in desperate situations and serves the city by giving people a place to go rather than living on the streets.
