Can't Sleep...

I can't seem to sleep. My mind is rolling on and on. My eyes stay closed but the ol' brain just won't stop.

I've been thinking about the homeless and what I can do for them. I purchased some gloves and hats and was thinking of walking the streets of Chico with those, some mandarins, and buying a big box of granola bars from Costco and finding folks that could use some of those things. I also thought of a note to include in the bags that would basically say something about not giving up on becoming who they were made to be.

Unfortunately, whether due to addiction, emotional breakdown, a tragic situation(s), spiritual breakdown, dysfunctional family, or own personal decision to be and live on the streets, the homeless are still a people with needs and desire for existence and personal interaction.

I met 'Lisa' this past summer and would run into her every so often and catch up with her, her pregnancy, her cats and life under a Chico bridge. But I haven't seen her as of late and have wondered how she is doing. I know in October she was suppose to be having her baby. But I have yet to find her since that last meeting. I do think of her often and pray that she and the baby are okay. I remember her showing me the sonogram of the baby and was excited that it was a girl. She had stated she needed to get off the street and start clean again and hoped to take the baby and move to Portland, Oregon. But I don't have any clue whether it happened or not. I hope it did not for the sake of the baby. She has her grandmother who cares for her other two children, two boys, locally so hopefully she has given the baby to her grandmother. Lisa is extremely bright, articulate and understanding of her situation, yet she is only 15 and not yet in a place of abandonment of self. But then how many of us truly ever get to that place? I dare say very, very few of us. I'm not sure that many of us really understand what that ultimately means. Myself included.

So, I hope Lisa is out there somewhere safe and okay.