Bruce making his contraption!
Brave people have fears.
Bravery is not the absence of fear, but is about being afraid and still facing the fear.
Brave people have fear just like the rest of us, but instead of running or hiding from their fear, they walk towards it.
So many brave men and women have come with me to South Dallas.
They have left comfort and houses to shake unwashed hands and breathe in unpleasant smells.
They have felt fear, yet they have come anyway. They have driven down in their nice (or beat up) cars to come sit with me on a corner—a corner no one should really care about—a corner with a dilapidated old house, an overgrown lawn, and a lot of people with dirty clothes.
And yet they come.
And they keep coming.
Some come once. Some come many times.
Each of them leaves changed, even if it is just in a small way.
It's impossible not to be changed.
One such person is my friend Bruce.
Bruce saw my work through Instagram of all things. He got in touch with me that way, and he actually drove from Ft. Worth every week for many weeks to stand on the cold corner with us this winter. While there, he innovated. He helped our friend Lovie heat an old, un-heated home someone lets him stay in. He created a heater for Lovie out of cinder blocks, flower pots, and candles.
that's what he created for Lovie!
Bruce had to stop coming because of work. But he did not stop giving.
That time on the Corner in South Dallas changed him. He went back to Ft. Worth and befriended a homeless man, "Jimmy," at a grocery store he frequents.
Since they met, Jimmy has gotten an apartment, and Bruce has helped him get on his feet.
Being on the Corner opened Bruce's eyes to homelessness. It meant he could not pass Jimmy by ...
That first day Bruce met Jimmy, he bought him food and encouraged him. Still, they meet up, and Bruce buys him food and encourages him. Jimmy just got a job at a sandwich shop!
Recently, Jimmy said to Bruce, "Bruce, I am where I am right now because of that one day you sat with me and told me not to give up."
Wow. Jimmy shared with Bruce that his few moments of kindness and care, his giving Jimmy a meal gave him such hope that he did not give up!
Bruce replied, "Thanks, Jimmy. But it wasn't me. It was God."
The love of God poured forth from Bruce that day in front of the grocery store, and it changed a man's life.
Little moments with needy people can change their lives. And I'm not just talking about the poor. Rich people can be just as needy. Sometimes they are hiding behind their stuff, but it doesn't make them any less needy.
And so I ask, Who's life have you stopped to change recently?