The Angel in My Life

About a month ago I was being my extroverted self and introduced myself to a woman at church who was wearing a visitor nametag. That was the beginning of an amazing relationship.
For many years God has been working on me, gnawing at me to look homelessness in the face. When I lived in Chicago it seemed like homeless people where everywhere begging for money. I walked past them on Michigan Avenue, drove past them on the Diversy/Kennedy ramp, and helped make a few meals for them at my church's weekly shelter. But God kept challenging me to see things differently and to do something more.
I've been given several opportunities to do more over the years, but have always come up short and found ways to pass on by like the priest and the Levite in Jesus' parable. So that Sunday morning when I introduced myself to Angel and learned that she wasn't just visiting from out of town, but that she was homeless, I decided then and there to stop passing by. After the worship service I enlisted some help and after a small flurry of action I garnered approval for her to stay in an empty home that the church owned, but would soon be renting.
The more time I have spent with Angel, listening to her life stories, helping her through the difficult maze of social services, and waiting with her for a bed in a shelter, the more I have been blessed by her. God is "growing me up" right in front of my own eyes. When I read some of Jesus' parables and the accounts of his healings I am awed, challenged, humbled and even ashamed because I know that I am afraid of doing what Jesus did. I'm afraid of putting myself in harm's way. I'm afraid of interrupting my schedule. I'm afraid of what my family or friends might think. I'm afraid of becoming the "hitching post" for all things "needy." I'm afraid I won't have enough to give. Thank goodness God knows better than I do!
Angel and I have had no reason to trust one another. But we have. She stayed in our home for a week until a bed opened up in a shelter. Now I'm still helping her "navigate the system" along with several other great church folks. But I can't wait to have her in our home again.
This is just the beginning of the story for Angel and me. I have no doubt that God will continue to shape both our lives, giving us many opportunities to minister to one another.