I drive on her streets cause shes my companion. I walk through her hills cause she knows who I am. She sees my good deeds and she kisses me windy. I never worry now that is a lie.
Nashville, my city, how I love you.
Since I’ve joined the Ethos family here in Nashville, I’ve been attending house church every Wednesday night out in Hermitage. Tonight we set out to love our city, so we met downtown for some homeless ministry. As much as I talk about all the great Nashville homeless ministry on my Lipscomb tours, this was actually my first time to partake in the field.
Since this was my first time, I wanted to think outside the box. I had about ten bucks to spend on food, so I decided I would make as many PB&J’s as my budget would allow. Turns out that’s about 27 sandwiches. Special thanks to Rachel Leigh Pierce and Liz LaVelle for their valiant effort in sandwich making. (This would not have been possible without you two.)
So, at 5:30 our house church congregated at McDonald’s on Broadway for a family meal. From there we purchased about 25 cheeseburgers to complement the small army of PB&J, then it was off to the riverfront. Along the front we met many interesting folks. We passed out sandwiches and water bottles as people told us about themselves and what was going on in their lives.
We began the night by meeting a woman I’ll refer to as “G” . She explained to our group that she had family near Memphis, but couldn’t afford a trip home. Some awesome members of my new family took this ministry to the next level by boldly offering G a bus ticket home. She graciously accepted, so I joined a team of four on a mission to purchase a bus ticket. After some executive decisions and priceless bonding time we returned to the riverfront to search for G. It took us about 20 minutes to find her, but this was just more bonding time with my new fam. Have I mentioned I love my new house church family?
So, to sum things up, G received the tickets, we prayed with her, and hopefully she’s now either on the road to or in Memphis, depending on when you read this.
I’ve also been praying for a man named Gene for several days now. I had never met this man, but a good friend had been asking me to keep Gene in my prayers. Tonight, by complete chance, my friend happens to sight him as we were getting into our car to drive back to campus. So, of course, we quickly scampered across the street to chase him down. Gene, although I’ve only met him once, may be the most amazing man I’ve ever encountered. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting Gene, note that he embodies pure joy. He is 77 years old, walks with a cane, and sleeps on the streets of Nashville. He loves the lord, and I know God loves him right back. I will never forget his proclamation that we should “always smile because it just makes people feel happy.” Right now he is in the process of hitch hiking to Florida in search of warmer weather. I will keep him in my prayers, and I hope God helps him find what he is looking for. God works in amazing ways. And tonight he worked through Gene to show me how beautiful life is, even during our times of pain.
I know that there was no place on Earth I needed to be tonight more than downtown Nashville. This was the perfect place to grow closer with my new house church family while praying with people on the streets of our city. Tonight we set out to love our city, and in return, Nashville gave us so much more.
