It's a typical scene at the exit off of Sunrise and 50... a seemingly homeless person with a handmade cardboard sign asking for "help". They are usually hungry, homeless, jobless and in need of some something--anything.
When I see these people, I have a personal pang within my heart. I have an extended family member that is currently homeless. I saw her at Christmas time- we brought her some food. She's been pretty sick and was living in a field in a small "fort" type thing she and her boyfriend had made. I've never known her not to have problems with drugs and alcohol. I had an epiphany when we were getting ready to go see them. I was thinking about all the years that I've seen people help her in our family. I was thinking of all of the chances she's had to get clean. I was thinking about her children and the rough life that they have lived as a result of her choices. I'm embarrassed to admit I even had the thought that "What difference will it even make to bring her any food or blankets? She will never change." Almost immediately after this thought, I had an intense, overwhelming feeling of the Saviors love for all of us and for the power of the Atonement and it's application in ANYONE'S life, no matter the situation or sin. I thought about my personal habits or addictions that I've struggled with in my life. I thought about how although my trials may be on a different level than drugs and alcohol, I've typically made the same mistakes over and over. Much like she does. It's typically our weaknesses that we struggle with over our lives. We continue to succumb to them, fall, get back up again...and it's a cycle. What if my Heavenly Father said, "Why should I help Stacy anymore? She's made this mistake before...and I know she'll make it again. She may never change, so I'm not going to help anymore." And, I was sufficiently humbled. I went to see her and we brought her enough to sustain them for a few weeks---and we hugged her. And we love her. Because she is a person, she is a daughter of Heavenly Father and He loves her just as much as He loves me and you.
So, as I exited onto Sunrise Blvd. last week, there was one of Heavenly Father's children---a seemingly homeless man, with a sign that I couldn't quite read, asking for help. I rarely have cash, and so I quickly dug through my bag at the stoplight to find a bag of Cheez-It's I had put in there. I fished them out and rolled down my window as the light turned green. I flung them to him out the window quickly, saying, "Sorry, it's not much. Just a snack---I don't have any money on me." With a smile on his face, he flung something back into my window and said, "Hope you like one of them."
The brown piece of paper bag fluttered to my feet, and I had to wait until the next light to get to it. When I picked it up, I realized there were two poems written on this tattered piece of brown bag. I'm pretty sure he wrote them, but there was no author name or signature. Just simply messages of "God Bless" and "Peace and Love".
I really enjoyed reading and interpreting the poems. Since I'm not the author, I won't interpret them and let you read them for what they are.
I felt fortunate to have received a greater blessing from him than I had given with the snack. The fact that he was doing something to give back to those helping him really touched me. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from others with different walks of life, different trials and struggles and to be reminded of the immense blessings I enjoy everyday. Am I even giving back for my blessings that are far much more than a bag of Cheez-It's, as he is giving back ten-fold for his?
Through Cheez-It's for poetry, I've learned a valuable lesson through "God('s) Bless(ings)" to spread "Peace and Love" as this man did for me that day.
However, she is now in a new Sunbeam class in the Mather Ward. She loves that her best friend Kami is in her class and loves her new teacher Sister Belnap.
