Anyone who knows me knows how much I love a good cup of coffee. The fancier the better! I often stand around in my new “home” in the south of Spain offering people lattes with my special frother (thanks Yol for the great idea and Mom for the frother stocking stuffer!). I love baking little treats for people, everything from pancakes to coffee cake, creme brulee, oatmeal bake and of course, classic chocolate chip cookies. In saying all of this, my talents or obsession is being put to new use, a coffee time with the homeless men of the Costa del Sol.
I have always known I have the gift of hospitality since my university days at Pepperdine. Every week my best friends and I would make rice krispie treats, brownies and cookies for the Tuesday night college group. I absolutely loved the social aspect of serving others and seeing their faces light up at good food and fellowship. I find that working with the homeless men is strangely the same!
These men come from all over the world including parts of Italy, Northern Africa, and Spain. They all live on the streets for various reasons, but one thing I notice while sitting down with a cup of coffee with them is that they are real people who enjoy good food and most importantly friends! They, too, know the importance of living in community and looking out for one another on the streets. They understand the concept of camaraderie. I sat their last Thursday night feeling so at home with these men, an ironic term to use with men who have no where to sleep at night, yet what I saw was an eagerness in their eye to connect, to be accepted and known. Don’t we all want a place that we know we can go where we are accepted 100% for who we are despite our shortcomings?
I think the church can learn a lot from men like these. Men who know what it is like to stick with each other through good times and hard times. Men who find the joy in the little things and laugh in all circumstances. Men who make the best of their situation. Amazing what I am learning from those whom I serve. In many ways, they serve to remind me of deep universal truths in life.
Thank you men of the streets and may you find food to fill your hunger, warmth to cover your bodies and friends to encourage your soul!
