ACE #418: A Harsh Reality

Everyday, I travel the same route to work.  Sometimes, I will stop for gas at the halfway point, while other times I will drive straight through. I take in all of the sights...rarely do they change.  I might see a different animal grazing in the field, but usually it is the same old scene.  Once a deer, followed by a coyote, ran straight across the road in front of me. It scared the living daylights out of me. Each day, I pass by this little greenish house.  I always notice how every few months, another window seems to be missing...well the glass in the window is missing.  I don't usually give it much thought because it is just an old abandoned house.  But yesterday was different.

This time when I rode by, I slowed down a bit. I noticed a black trash bag in one of the windows and what seemed to be a non-functional vehicle that looked like it belonged in a junkyard.  And there it was...plain as day...a light was on inside the house.  I have NEVER seen that...NEVER!  It dawned on me - someone actually lived in that shack.  

Especially during this season, be grateful for the shelter above your head, the clothes on your back, the food on your table, and heat.  The harsh reality is that poverty and homelessness are more common than we think. I can only imagine that the people residing in that space are probably grateful for those things...even if it doesn't look like much.

Matthew 25:36

I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, 

I was in prison and you came to visit me

Proverbs 19:17

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, 

and he will repay him for his deed.