Spare Change

So, as I said in my las post, I went to the UK basketball game on tuesday night. The game was definitely sub par because of the performance not the company. Anyway, I have decided that we are just having bad luck and things would be better if Jasper and Meeks were not injured. I digress. I had parked my car over on second street which is a short walk from the civic center. If you know anything about downtown, second street has a lot of big,old homes. The homes are beautiful, but sometimes there are some shady characters over in that area of town. The further and further you go down second street, and just that area in general, the worse and worse it is to be a person who belongs to the white middle class. As I was walking to my car a man approached me and asked me for some money. I'm gonna finish the story in a second but we need some background first. From almost the time I was born until about the second grade I lived right outside of Nawleans (that's New Orleans). On frequent occassions my family would drive over lake ponchartrain into downtown. We encountered several homeless people and I remember my parents giving me money and telling me to go give it to the homeless person and tell them "God bless you" or "Jesus loves you". However, this was under the safety of crowded areas and my parents watchful eyes. For the most part I grew up with white middle class people. I do not think this is bad or good, it's just how it was. I was not used to poverty and neediness. God blessed my life and put me in a loving Chrisian home where I didn't have to worry about anything. Because of all this, I grew up being uncomfortable around poverty stricken and homeless people. I didn't want people to stop me and ask me for money. I could always just wipe it out of my mind by saying "There just gonna use it to get hopped up on drugs and alchohol anyway". That's just classic. As I have gotten older, my perspectives have started to change on this. Now, back to tuesday night after the game. So, this guy asks me for money after a story that doesn't make a whole lot of since. He was acting like he had just come off of some kind of buzz. I stood there and listened to him and then gave him a few dollars and went on. I should have done more. I should have tried to talk to him about the Lord. You see, God has blessed me. I need to help other people that are in need. I have no idea what that guy used my money for. I hope he used it for food or he used it for what he told me he needed it for. What if he didn't? What if he went straight to a liquor store or to a dealer? Well, that's not my responsibility. That's his. Jesus gave us an example and told us to help those that are in need. Why do you think that God has blessed you? He has given you blessings not because you are loved more than others, but because He wants you to use those blessing to reach and help others. Love people with the love of Jesus. Hebrews 13:2 says, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." I don't know who that guy was. Was he an angel? Probably not. Was I an angel to him? I sure hope so.


soon to come: i'm almost ready to talk about uk football-- i havne't been able to talk about it because of some "misfortune" at the end of the season. my readers will be the first to hear my take on a roller coaster season