Snow Snow Snow

Last night was the first real snow of the season and though I was tucked in my warm bed, in my warm, cozy dorm room, I could not sleep. While a whole host of things were on my mind, (I spend many nights sleepless, because of the pain in this world) I could not stop thinking about those who do not have homes, or a warm dorm room to sleep in when the snow and ice get bad. Snow used to be my favorite thing. I find it to be so magical and pure and I get a childlike sense of happiness when I get to play in the snow. Something about the first snow still encourages that sense within me. However, after spending a weekend living on the streets in the bitter cold rain and wind last year, I cannot help but think of this weather in a different manner. My heart breaks for those who don't have a home. I so desperately want to be able to help, but I feel so helpless. This is a feeling I experience almost daily.
As I lay in my bed last night, I begged Jesus to comfort them. I begged God to be the perfect Father that He is and layer his children with peace and warmth, even when no warmth exists out on the cold streets. It feels almost hypocritical for me to pray those prayers, because if you reread the beginning of this paragraph, I was laying in my bed, my warm bed, with a roof over my head. Nonetheless, often praying is all that I can do and who am I to diminish prayer? Speaking to the creator of this world, speaking to my Lord, my Savior, is a privilege and a gift and prayer changes things. We are told throughout scripture to pray for others. May my prayers never cease and may my heart continue to break for the people in the margins, the people who don't have a roof over their heads, the people who don't have the blessings that I do. 

I must end with an echo of the words of Dr Jeff Cook, "When you have been (or are) homeless on the street, you are less than excited about the first snow of the season."

God break my heart for the city and for the people in the city who do not have a place to call home.