I was lying on my bed and as some of you may do I was checking my Facebook. Yep, I check my Facebook before going to sleep. That is beside the point; I came across a video of mean tweets. We have all seen the “Celebs read mean tweets, NBA stars read mean tweets, and NFL players read mean tweets.” But, this one was different. It was different because it was “Homeless reading mean tweets” and it brought me to tears. The heartlessness, in which people talked about thehomeless, some had children; others had been homeless for more than 10 years. My heart broke to see these men and women broken because people only see the appearance.
So why was I so torn about it? I was torn about it because I was homeless. I was 11 years old and my father had gotten into a forklift accident at his job and even though no one besides him was injured he was fired. With mortgage payment, bills, food to provide for the family we were lost and with no help. The bank took our home; so we stored our belongings in storage and began the search for a new place to call home. I couldn’t complain because I knew my parents were doing the best they can to find ways to provide for me and my brothers. My mom’s cousin would let us live in her dining room with my parents and my two younger brothers sleeping in air mattress, my older brother and I would sleep with our cousins in their rooms. We had a roof over our head and food to eat; so we didn’t complain. Then months passed by and we moved to my aunts. This was the toughest months of our lives. My brother Ricky was the only one sleeping in a bed and the rest of us were on the floor. I remember the order we slept in too. My dad would take any job he could, but it wouldn’t be enough and it was never long lasting. Then my dad decided to start driving courses for 18 wheelers and with great efforts from all of us he finished and passed his exams. But, the hard part wasn’t over. .. The journey continued and even though we thankfully found a home after almost 1 year of being homeless; I was still a homeless. Maybe not the type you’re used to seeing, but none the less a homeless an 11 year old homeless. When did we become so heartless to the need of others? When did we deliberately choose to turn a blind eye? When did we get accustomed to this society?
I have to say as a Christian I don’t think I am being Christ like. I became too focused on my life and neglected to understand that my life is not my own. In Matthew 20:28 it says that “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” See we as Christian aren’t to be served, we are to serve others. But, how do we remove the “I” in our lives and make it about “them.” It is until we become acquainted with whom we are in Christ. It is in Him and only Him we could find life, compassion, and begin selfless acts of kindness. But remember we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. But, we over love ourselves and become blinded self-superiority. When I saw this video I was overwhelmed with mixed emotions. But, at the same time I was thinking of how some of us at some point have been homeless. I am not talking about the homeless in the material way, but spiritually.
I, for so long felt like something was missing.
Some of us roam through this life without a home searching for answers in places, things, and people. Before being a Christian I had a “home” and a family, but somehow that didn’t suffice. I longed for more and I didn’t know exactly how to describe it, but I was not whole. I longed for more… there was a void inside me that couldn’t be fulfilled and no matter how much I searched I would still come up empty.
I searched for a place of my own to call home a safe haven, but, I was left with temporary homes that at the end of the day when the big bad wolf would huff and puff it came crumbling to the ground. I grew up with that feeling and it never went away. I didn’t fit in with the crowd, didn’t fit in with the surroundings, I just didn’t fit in because I was lost, broken, and confused without any direction or a guide to guide me to my home, home. I was spiritually homeless. When I see someone who doesn’t have an actual place to stay and I see myself spiritually. I was needy, I was blinded, I was in poor conditions. And all I needed was someone to point the way and I got on it without any hesitations, without any doubt, and I just followed.
Christ gave me that home. He gave me direction and guided me to him. I can’t say it has been easy and I have remained on this path that will take me home, because it hasn’t been easy and I haven’t always remained on this path. But, I keep fighting and I keep on pressing on to him. Maybe, just maybe a person who doesn’t have a place to sleep, family, clothes, or food had lost their way. They lost their compass, a reason or their inspiration or maybe they aren’t that homeless. Maybe we are the homeless for thinking the way that we do. None the less I have challenged myself and you to extend your hand to the needy. Maybe they aren’t needy spiritually, but needy emotionally, physically. You never know if you could be the one to point the way and they get on it without any hesitation, without any doubt and just followed. Don’t let society tell you who the homeless are.
