In the business of making bad, good....

I've really been struggling about what to write on this blog. I just can't seem to find the words to clearly describe what we experienced last time we went out. We're going out tomorrow so I figured I might as well sit down and try before more happens and my poor little brain has to digest even more.

When we go out on the streets the spiritual warfare is very present. You can feel forces of evil and good all around you; and I say that not trying to sound like a freak or that I have some magical power of sense. It's so powerful you can't help but notice. Sometimes it's more noticeable than others. But in the midst of it, in the middle of the battle field, God is constantly with us pouring his water on our little seed of faith. Lets just say I'm a very needy plant that needs a lot of watering.

I must say that I feel that my faith is still very immature. I would say my faith is truly about 6 years old and it came from circumstance, not study. I feel that I still have a lot of growing to do and to tell you the truth I don't foresee a time in my life that that will ever change. Because I know from experience that when I think I've got it figured out the cookie quickly crumbles.

Last time we were out (about 2 weeks ago I guess) we were totally beaten up mentally, emotionally and spiritually not to mention verbally. There were two men sitting on the sidewalk and we asked them if they would like some crackers and water and they did so we got out and gave them some. One of them asked us if he could ask us a question and he started talking about the bible and God and how we should be feeding the people spiritually and not physically. We should be handing out the word, not crackers and water. He went on to say how so many on the streets were spiritually starving, how the crackers we gave him would enter his body and then soon leave. So at this point I'm thinking maybe he's right, maybe we're just going through the motions. Generally we don't go out beating people over the head with the bible. Our main goal when we go out is just to love and respect people that don't get treated as human much less with respect. As I mentioned earlier my faith came from circumstance, not study, and it certainly didn't come from someone reciting bible verses to me. Believe me, I know God's word is alive and very real. I've read my bible, I've underlined and highlighted passages and I've soaked the pages with my tears but there's no way I could throw up bible verses on someone by memory.

I may not know God's word by heart but what I do know is God's love and mercy He's shown me. All I do when I go out on the streets is recycle it. That's ALL I know.

So going back to the guy .... he started getting excited and talking louder and throwing bible verses at us expecting us to recite them from memory, because after all we were the Christians handing out food to the homeless so we should know these things. When we couldn't tell him what it said he started yelling at us telling us we needed to go home and read. Then all the sudden, religion turned racial. At this point you could see his excitement, he couldn't sit down and talk anymore, he had to stand up for the upcoming production.

"Everyone thinks Jesus is white but they're wrong...He was black....when blood dries what color is it.... BLACK. When someone hits you in the eye and it bruises what color does it turn...BLACK!

This had turned into a very heated racial discussion that started out with God. When Scottie and I tried to tell him we didn't care what color Jesus was, that it didn't matter to us, he would get even more excited and would yell "It does matter, it does matter." He didn't allow us any opportunity to talk so we just stood there and took the beating.

When things were starting to get out of hand I finally said we had to leave, we had more water and crackers to pass out. We left him and the other man that was there with him yelling at each other over whether Jesus was black or not and whether or not it mattered. We were totally exhausted from the beating we had just taken and decided to go talk to Kenneth.

There's no doubt in my mind that God wanted us to go talk to Kenneth right after that encounter. God was about to use him as His water hose! Kenneth is one of our very good friends from the streets. Trust and respect is mutually shared between all of us. The thing about Kenneth, and he told us this when we first met him, is that he is on a different level. Sometimes, no I take that back, anytime when Kenneth speaks it's like talking to the Riddler.....like he's talking in some sort of code. But the reality of it is, his speech is simple and childlike and very complex and meaningful all at the same time.

It was like Kenneth knew what had just happened to us and one of the first things he said as he leaned up against the wall was "you know, Jesus was in the business of making bad things into good. Things start going wrong when people start making bad out of good." That's just what we had experienced...making bad out of good. He went on to say that's our goal in life..to try and make what's bad good.

So as we were talking I was still thinking about what the previous guy had said about what we were doing really wasn't helping anyone. So I just went ahead and asked Kenneth what he thought. What was his perception of us coming out and did it make a difference? He said about 75% of the people really appreciated us coming out and the rest were indifferent.

He said sometimes a table doesn't look like a table to everyone. They don't see what you see. I sat there gazing at him like a child when they first see the ocean. I understood what he just said and my faith was being watered.

He said “You know, I have an ID because I have to have one but that’s not who I am. That’s not my identity. My identity is who I am within this universe. A lot of people out here have ID’s but don’t have identities, they are the walking dead. They don’t know who they are and don’t realize they are a part of the universe.” He looks around and says “all of this around us is fiction. The only thing that is reality is that grass and that tree over there. Everything else is fiction; it’s a product of someone’s imagination. That telephone pole over there used to be a tree but no one calls it a tree any more because someone has made it into something else. Its identity has changed.

This was also something that made sense to me but confused me at the same time. I was thinking is your identity "who God made you to be” or “be who you’ve become”??? Is your identity something you’re blessed with before you are born or is it something that is developed and shown to you over time?

If this makes no sense to you at all it's okay and if it does make sense to you and you're disturbed that's okay too.

Do you live in a world of fiction or are you in touch with reality. Are you a part of the walking dead or do you know your identity? Difficult question? Yes! Let it bother you and see where it takes you.

We'll see how God disturbs me tomorrow. Till then.

Britney & Scottie

People like us....

We finally went to the streets today in what seems like forever since we last went. I sit here thinking about today and honestly I sit here with my mind blank. I know without a doubt that God was ever present today I just can't find the words to explain Him....if there are even words that exist.

Today was very two sided. There were some that were totally exhausting-ly grouchy. They were hot, they were tired, they were hungry and it was an end to one more day on the streets. Same old crap, different, hotter day. And in that same second of frustration, that same moment of exhaustion, breathing in the same hot air was someone filled with gratitude and thankfulness that would say thank you on behalf of everyone. They would come up to us and shake our hands or give us a hug and tell us how much they appreciated us coming out and if no one said thank you they were saying it for them.

We by no means go out there to get patted on the back or to puff up our egos by "doing good to the least of these" and we never expect a thank you or anything else in return. But when someone goes out of their way to tell you...it means a lot.

I honestly love going to the streets and seeing our friends out there. It serves as a check and balance system for my own life. I juggle two lives...one at work filled with people trying to keep up with the Jones' and living well beyond their means to do it and one filled with people that are just trying to survive another day. I relate and connect so much more with the people who struggle in life; people that experience suffering. Rather than those who put on their plastic smiles and face each day suppressing internal struggles.

When we were in front of the Stew Pot today there was a man there that I started talking to named Ernie. He said he recognized us from the walk in (aka Austin Street Shelter). Just before we went to the Stew Pot we were just down the street (literally 1/2 a block from the Stew pot) and we were in a circle praying for some of our good friends and it started out with Scottie and I and 3 other people but the circle just kept growing as people walked up. By the time I closed my eyes to pray there were about 10 people in the circle. As I was praying people kept coming up and just standing behind the circle and bowing their heads and joining in the prayer. Obviously Ernie was one of those that had stopped because when I was talking to him he looked at me and said "I just want to thank you for praying for people like us". I looked at him and shook my head and said Ernie I'm no different than you, I'm just like you. He looked back at me like I was from a different planet and said well thank you anyways.

What does that mean..."people like us"? Has our society dehumanized him enough that he's now less human than I am just because he's on the streets and I, at this moment in life, am lucky enough to have a roof over my head?


I was totally taken back by his statement. When does one human become "more human" than another? How does that happen? When does that happen?



I feel more like "us" than I do "them".



I have most definitely been in the valley before. A dark, scary, lonely valley and God has allowed me to be on this mountain top of life for the time being. But I don't want to get to far away from the valley that I forget what it looks like...what it feels like...even what it smells like. From my personal experiences in life I feel like God hangs out more in the valley than he does on the mountain. I know for certain that the same God that is in the valley is the same God on the mountain top. I just felt closer to him when I was in the valley.



Maybe that's why I enjoy going out to the streets; it gives me the opportunity to be in the valley and in the presence of my maker as He allows me time on this mountain top. The thing is I know this time is limited and short lived. I know for sure I will again be in my own valley needing others to cry out in my behalf. That's life.....life as we know it anyways. A series of valleys and mountains. When you're in the valley you feel like you have no way out of it and when you're on the mountain you never see the edge before you fall off of it.



People like us.....out of all the things that happened today those words are the only thing I can think about and I still to this moment can't wrap my mind around them.





I was reading the Street Zine (a homeless newspaper) on the way home and there is an article in the July issue that addresses Dallas's decision to have a tougher panhandling ordinance. This is a part of the article that intrigued me and I thought it was brilliantly said.



"The greatest tragedy of this ordinance is its contribution to the myth that the presence of the poor equals a threat to our safety. This is simply not true.

Our safety is threatened not by the poor, but by evil. Evil is present along the entire spectrum of society. It is present in middle-class neighborhoods in Carrollton, where a man recently shot his family and himself. It is present in University Park, where drugs and alcohol continue to claim the lives of students at SMU. It is present in southeast Dallas, where a 15-year old was killed in a gang related shooting last week. It is present in too many churches, where a blind eye is turned to abuse.

It is indeed present among the homeless population, but no more there than the rest of society. It is also present in us when we see another human being as a threat simple because that person is poor" ~ Rev. Joseph J. Clifford, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Dallas.



Seems like all of us are "people like us".



Something to think about.....

Britney & Scottie

It all started with a size 13....

It never fails to amaze me how God is a part of everything and everything truly does have meaning and purpose....EVERYTHING. I don't even think I can actually explain that to where it makes sense but I believe with all my heart that everything happens for a reason.

It amazes me that God can turn a size 13 shoe into a lasting friendship. It sounds funny but it's true. We have a friend that we met at Austin Street Shelter about a year ago that recently got off the streets and into his very own apartment. He sent me an email telling me he had his new apartment and that he was going to invite Scottie and I over for dinner but he didn't have furniture yet so it would be a while. When I got the email I sent an email to our church letting them know the situation and asked for furniture, dishes, towels, and whatever else they had to go into a "home". They responded like crazy and he now has basically everything he needs to live comfortably in his new home.

As cool as that is that's not even the cool part of the story. The cool part is looking back and seeing God at work. Seeing how he crossed our paths months ago and created a friendship from a parir of shoes.

This is how it started....

His name is Michael and we met at Austin St. when we were passing out random things to the guys out there. Michael was very quiet and shy and had a child like smile. He didn't just smile with his mouth he smiled with his eyes. He was always grateful for us coming out and very very polite. After months of us going out to the shelter he came up to me and asked if we had a size 13 shoe. We didn't have that size at the time but I told him I would look for some. So every time we went out there he would ask if we had found a size 13 shoe yet and I would joke with him about how big his foot was and it would take us a while to find a shoe that big.

Scottie and I went to Church Under the Bridge in Waco with a few people from church one weekend and a guy that was scheming money off of people using a floppy shoe came up to one of the teenagers from church and asked for 5 bucks so he could buy a pair of shoes. Josh, the teenager from church has the biggest softest heart ever and he asked what size shoe he needed. The guy said 13, and that happened to be the size shoe Josh wore. Josh took his shoes off and gave them to this guy. Awesome story I know, but like I said the guy was scheming. He took the shoes off of Josh's feet and put them in his bag. He didn't even put the shoes on. He put them in his bag right in front of us. His floppy shoes were his money maker and the day was early, he couldn't put the shoes on.... he was working the crowd.

I couldn't believe what just happened, he totally just played Josh. I told Scottie what happened and he and Adam went to Wal-Mart down the street and bought Josh a new pair of shoes since it was cold outside and Josh was standing in the cold with socks on.

I kept my eye on the guy and watched as he went from person to person flopping his shoe and giving them the same song and dance he gave Josh. I waited until the service was over and I went over to the guy and sat down next to him and looked him in the eye and asked if he was going to put those shoes on knowing he had no intention to put those shoes on. They were going to be sold by the end of the day. He laughed when I asked. I told him I would buy the shoes back from him for 5 bucks (the original amount of money he was asking for) and he said without hesitation....10. I said 5 bucks....he said 7. I looked at him raised my eyebrows and said I'll buy the shoes for 5 dollars. It was a deal. I gave him 5 bucks and got Josh's shoes back. I went to go find Josh and trade him his shoes for the shoes Scottie and Adam had just bought at Wal-Mart. I made the trade and Finally....I had a size 13 shoe for Mr. Michael.

The very next time we saw Michael I gave him his very new pair of size 13 shoes and told him God definitely wanted him to have these shoes!!! It brought tears to his eyes that day and we went to the side of the truck and prayed for the first time together. We prayed for a job he was trying to get and for him to get off the streets.

About two or three weeks later he came up to me telling me he got the job. About 2 or 3 months after he got the job I got the email saying he got an apartment and was off the streets!

A week ago we went and surprised him with lots of stuff for his house. We just kept bring stuff up to his apartment. It was awesome! He just stood there speechless as I was putting his new dished in his bear cabinets. After all the dishes were put away, all the food was in the pantry and all of the boxes of towels and sheets and blankets were unpacked he stood there and just looked around. You could see the disbelief on his face. He said "I don't know what to say" as tears filled his eyes. He walked out of the room without saying anything and went into the bathroom to wipe his eyes.

This was Michael's pantry when we got there.
This was the pantry when we left :)

When he came back out we reassured him he didn't need to say anything. This was all God's doings, we just delivered it for Him. I couldn't stop smiling. I was so thankful to be a part of this story, thankful for this friendship and thankful for that pair of size 13 shoes.

We all held hands, Michael, Scottie, Cheyenne and I, in his living room and we prayed. We thanked God for the day, the breath he had given us, the apartment, the friendship and the way He crossed our paths to make a beautiful part of the bigger picture.

Scottie, Cheyenne, Roxy, Michael and Britney

Through trials and tribulations there are rainbows after the storm. If you are in the storm right now I pray for you to hold on to your faith. If you're just coming out of one I pray for you to open your eyes, your mind and your heart and wait for the rainbow.

How you treat people today makes a difference for a lifetime. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Britney and Scottie

I can see...

Every once in a while God will let you see a tinny tiny glimpse of the "bigger picture".

He created us and is well aware of the fact we're not capable of wrapping our minds around the plans He has for us. BUT...Sometimes.....he lets us see just a glimpse of the bigger picture.

Bigger than the little bubble of our everyday routine. Bigger than you. Bigger than us. Bigger than the little pale blue dot we live on. God is so much bigger.

This life isn't easy. Everyone has trials. As different as they may be everyone has them. It's in these trials that you have a choice to find yourself. To find God. To fully rely on God for every move you make. When you're in total darkness and you don't know which way is up or down and you're hanging on to your faith by threads.....you find God.

Most of the time it's painful.

It's scary.

It sucks.

You can only see the nightmare in front of you.

The thing is God see's the bigger picture and He can see the rainbow when you're in the midst of the storm.

As painful as these trials are God sees you through it. It hurts. Physically, mentally and spiritually it hurts. But you get through it.

God can heal you in ways that are indiscribable.

I've gone through trials. Painful, heart breaking trials that are at sometimes still hard to swallow but I let my guard down. I broke down the walls that, what I thought, were protecting my heart and only then did the healing begin. I gave it all up. I COULD NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE.

When I gave it to God the healing began. In ways I can't even begin to explain.

On Easter Sunday God gave me a little glimpse of the bigger picture. Our friends from the streets, Kenneth and Denise came to church with us. Denise has a van and we invited them to come down to go to church with us and they showed up. I have to say it was the best Easter ever.

As we were singing in worship I looked over at Kenneth and saw his eyes and for a split moment God allowed me to see a glimpse of the bigger picture.

I could see.

I could see why God allowed Courtney to suffer and then take her home. I could see why God allowed my heart to crumble into pieces. I could see the answer to all those nights I laid in bed kicking and crying asking why. I could see a glimpse of why. I could see why God put it on my heart to go out on streets to Love people.

I could see what Todd meant when he pointed out the verse in John 15:16

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit- fruit that will last."

I could see why God choose me. If all that suffering and all that heart ache was to reclaim lost souls for the Glory of God then it was worth it.

I could see a glimpse of the bigger picture.

The beautiful thing about this is that GOD CHOSE YOU! You didn't choose Him, He chose you to go and bear fruit.


As you walk through these trials we face in this life try to remember God can see the bigger picture when you're spinning your wheels in the darkness.

God chose you.

Britney and Scottie

Satan is a liar....

John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full

This is "Momma" with all she has.

Satan is a liar plain and simple. He lies to us all. I have so many friends out on the streets that have believed his lies for years and years. Lie after painful lie they fall victom to his decieving ways.

Sound familiar? He lies to us all. He is here to steal, kill and destroy. Does it disturb you when someone lies to you or steals from you?

Does this disturb you?

I don't know this man but I know Satan has lied to him. The streets are like Satan's playground, there are so many lies told and so many steal, kill and destroy.

There's an upside to this whole lying delima. Jesus came so that we may have life, and have it to the full. Strangely enough, for most people it's easier to believe Satan's lies than to believe that Jesus came to give us life to the full.

It happens a little at a time, one lie at a time. Lie after little lie it steals our happiness, kills our joy and destroys our souls. We see it often out in the streets. Dead, stolen souls. Their happiness and joy is gone. They walk through this world lifeless.

Some may ask how do you change it? How do you begin to help with such a huge problem? The answer is you don't. Jesus came so that we may have life, and have it to the full.

You pray. You ask for mercy. You claim healing for these people and for Jesus to shed light on Satan's lies and for the eyes of those that are being lied to to be opened.

You love them. No matter how much they don't want to be loved, you love them as Jesus loves them and let His light shine through you. You could be the person God uses to expose light on Satan's lies.

Me & Momma

You don't have to go out on the streets to accomplish this. As I said before Satan Lies to us all. There's someone you know right now that is struggling with Satan's lies. You can be the light that exposes those lies.

Look at the world around you. Think smaller; look at your family, your friends, your co-workers. Think even smaller, look at yourself. What lie are you struggling with? Call it out for what it is. Satan is attacking all of us with his lies.

Jesus came so that we may have life, and have it to the full. Believe in this. Cry out for mercy. Reclaim your life in the name of Jesus and have it to the full.

Please be in prayer for those out on the streets and that day by day Satan's lies are exposed a little more.


Britney & Scottie

I dream big...

We hit the streets last Sunday and our friend Adam went with us. It was an absolutely beautiful day. We got up to Austin St. around 4:00 so everyone was starting to go in already. We kind of got a late start but we still got to see a lot of our friends. Everyone was inside in about 45 mins to an hour so we headed down to the church to see if Tom and Jennifer were there. When we got there Tammy and her husband ran up to the truck to greet us and they told us that Tom and Jennifer were in a nearby town working for a carnival that had come to town and they were thinking about traveling with them when they moved to a different town. They would help set up and tear down the carnival as it traveled. We never actually talked to them so I'm not sure if they stayed or if they went.


We moved on to the rest of our regular stops. We stopped at the Stew Pot first and handed out crackers and water there. We saw "momma" down on the corner of Canton and Park. This is right past the stew pot, this is where we first met "momma". Please keep "momma" in your prayers, she just looked very tired.

A lot of people told us that the cops have been giving them a hard time since the new homeless center is going up. I guess if you can't see the "problem" it's not really that bad, right?









When we got down by the Millet Paper Co. we had ran out of crackers. All we had left was water. When we got out of the truck we heard a few of the guys say "Do you have anything to eat, I'm starving". We reluctantly told them that the only thing we had was water. After everyone got water we were trying to decide if we needed to go get more crackers and God put it on Scottie's heart to go get sandwiches for them. We got in the truck and headed to the store and Scottie said "These guys aren't getting anything to eat, no one is feeding them. This is probably their only chance for food tonight". So we all agreed sandwiches were a good idea. So that's what we did. We made sandwiches.....on the tailgate of my truck in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. :)

We made 48 sandwiches. There was about 30 people on that street so we thought we were good. We got there and when we got out of the truck they said in surprise "Y'all are back?".

Scottie told them to get in a line and we handed out the sandwiches. The word travels fast when you have food. Guys kept coming around the corner and getting in line. They were coming from the resource center which is just around the corner from the street we were on. We ran out of sandwiches in about 3 minutes. Not everyone got a sandwhich.

While we were there we were talking to Fugi. Scottie had recognized him and called him by name earlier when we were at the stew pot. Fugi was surprised Scottie remembered him. Please keep Fugi in your prayers for his "habits". Pray for God to move in his life.

Kenneth Green is one of the most interesting people we've met on the streets. Each time we talk to him it seems like God reveals himself a little more if you listen closely. Great truths come from Kenneth's mouth; he's a simple man that dreams big.


Kenneth, talking about his jewelry production, says simply "You see, I dream big. When I lay down there (pointing to his sleeping bag on the sidewalk) and I look up (pointing to the sky) it makes me realize how small I am and how big He is. So I dream big."



Why is it that it takes having nothing to realize how big God is and you truly rely on Him for everything. Why is it that we get so consumed with our everyday issues, bills, kids, work, soccer practice, traffic, etc., that we seem to forget just how big God really is?



Look beyond your world, look beyond the pale blue dot we live on, look beyond this life. Look at how great God really is and look how little credit we give Him. I bought this house, I paid for my car, I have a job, this is My family. Once we understand that none of these are ours by our own accomplishments, but rather blessing from God, we would have a greater understanding of how BIG GOD really is and how much He truly loves us.


If we would just realize how small we are.


Look around you at all of God's glory and splendor. How can it be that easy to forget? Take time to realize how big God really is and dare to dream big.

Please be in prayer for those out on the streets.

Britney & Scottie

The power of prayer...

Last Thursday we hit the streets again fully loaded with hand warmers, gloves, hot chocolate, coffee, and snacks. May I remind you that we don't have many cold days in Texas but Thursday was most definitely an exception. IT WAS FREEZING!! It wasn't bad until the sun went down and the wind picked up. Our friend Mandy went with us to experience the joy of giving. We told her we were going to be busy and there really wasn't enough time to explain how everything works so she would just have to get out and go with the flow. She did exactly that. We went to Austin Street first and we all got out and I handed Mandy the hot chocolate and said okay, you're the hot chocolate scooper so get busy. So she went down the line and scooped hot chocolate like a pro. :)

Luckily there wasn't as many people outside as there usually is. It was a good day to throw a newbie in. We visited and prayed with a lot of the guys out there. Some for their continued success of getting back on their feet and some for strength to make it through the day. Our friend Cotton was having a really bad day. Actually we've seen his attitude deteriorate drastically since the first time we met him. The streets are really wearing him down. He said he got what was coming to him the other day. He had gone out and got tanked on Vodka and came to the shelter and was running his mouth and he got his butt stomped. He said he deserved everything he got. I asked him if he wanted us to pray for him before we left and he said yes. So we prayed for him and when we were through he was wiping the tears out from behind his sunglasses.

Before we left we went inside to say hi to Sherman and Duane. While we were in there DeAngelo (a friend we haven't seen in months) came up to me and asked if we could pray. So DeAngelo, Mandy, Scottie and I circled around and grabbed hands and someone walking by said "Hey, can I get in on that?", and then another one and another one. We just stood there holding hands as the circle grew bigger and bigger. I couldn't stop myself from smiling. We asked for specific prayer request and then jumped right in. I started the prayer off and it kept going around the circle, it was awesome. I can't think of any other word to explain it. After the last prayer was said we all said amen and DeAngelo gave us a hug and said he had to go before he started crying. He said he considered us family and he really loved us.

God was moving within those prayer circles, the evidence was in the tears.

After leaving Austin Street we went down by the Gospel Mission and handed out hot chocolate to the guys down there. Since this was Mandy's first time out we took her back to her car before it got dark and then Scottie and I hit the streets again. We went by Kenneth's usual spot so we could buy more jewelry from him and he was there waiting on us. We bought almost all he had with him and put a little cash in his pocket. He didn't have the necklace Scottie was wanting so we made plans to meet him at the Library the next day. After we left Kenneth we stopped by the Family Gateway Center and passed out stuff for about 30 mins before going to the resource center.

When we got to the resource center Scottie and I were way out numbered. It's almost impossible for two people to man that size of a crowd. We handed the first person in line a stack of cups and told them to take one and pass it back and I was the hot chocolate scooper and the cracker passer outer and Scottie was the hot water and coffee guy. When we're at the resource center we have absolutely no time to talk or pray with anyone, especially if it's just Scottie and I. Sometimes visits at the resource center are challenging physically and mentally. It's just such a demand. It can easily drain you.

We did see Terry, Tom, Jennifer, Jody and Tami at the Resource Center. They were getting in doors for the night. I was so thankful to see them there, it got down to 20 degrees that night. When we were handing out the hot chocolate I kept looking at the line getting longer and longer and knowing that we only had one cooler left of hot water and it was going fast. I kept saying to myself and really to the Lord "Fishes and loaves Lord, Fishes and Loaves." At one point a man asked if there was going to be enough water and I told him yes, just keep saying fishes and loaves. he said "Fishes and loaves, Fishes and Loaves, it fed 5000 it can give us some hot water!" I'm proud and not surprised to say we had exactly enough water for everyone. Fishes and Loaves! :)

After we left the Resource Center we went to the hospital to be with the Hulsman family while David was in surgery. David is in our youth group and had emergency surgery on his intestines. We sat in the waiting room with his parents while he was in surgery and I went in the recovery room with them to see David as he came out. So many memories and emotions came back to me going into that recovery room. The weird thing is I had peace about it all. I could see the emotions in his parents and I remember the exact feeling when I would go in to see Court. Totally freaked out but so relieved to see her. The same look was in David's parents faces. Totally freaked out but so relieved to see him. David is doing well and recovering fast.

God is good and God is SOOOOO Real. That's all I've got to say about that.

Have a great week.

Britney and Scottie

Sorry for the lack of photos, we just didn't have enough hands to do everything. We'll try to have a troop with us next time to man the camera.

PS. I leave out on Saturday to go to El Salvador on a mission trip. Please be in prayer for the team going and for us to listen to what God is saying.

Truth is of God....

Truth can be found everywhere, including the streets. Some people are on a different, deeper level spiritually than others. The different levels are everywhere; at school, at work, at church, on the streets and even in your home. It seems as though on the streets there's a different realm of spiritually awareness. There are a few people we meet on the streets that seem keenly aware of the evilness that is around them. I feel, the presence of evil is more dominant on the streets than it is in our "normal rat race lives". I think this is true because our lives are filled with distractions and schedules that are crammed packed with activities. We don't have time to realize the war around us. There's something that happens when you're stripped down to your bear essentials and you truly rely on God for everything. Everything such as protection whether it be from other people or the weather, the next meal you eat and where you're going to lay your head for the night. You become quickly aware of the war when you're right in the middle of the battle field.

We had a lot of good conversations last night with some old friends and some new ones. We met a man that we knew of, but had never personally met before. We were down by the Union Gospel looking for people and we found two men lying down on the sidewalk for the night. We stopped and asked if they would like some crackers and water and they said yes. We jumped out of the truck and started getting all of our stuff out and Stephen walked over to the man that was in his sleeping bag. The first night Stephen and Layci went with us our friend Duane gave him a necklace made by a local homeless man named Kenneth Green. Scottie and I got ours as Christmas gifts about a month earlier. As a matter of fact Duane had given me a bracelet and Scottie another necklace earlier that day when we were at Austin Street. Anyway, as Stephen was handing this man his crackers he saw Stephen’s necklace and said "Hey, where did you get that necklace? That's my work." We finally ran into Kenneth Green. We talked with him for about 20-30 mins about his jewelry and showed him all the pieces we had of his work. He got off into a deep conversation about faith and spiritual dimensions and how God reveals our purpose to us a little at a time and we may not get it until years later. Kenneth is one of those people that are on a way deeper level than most. If you listened to him with an open mind and an open heart then you could pick up most of what he was putting down. If you didn't have an open mind and just believe in what you have experienced and that all you know is all you believe, no more or no less is true, then you would think everything he said was crazy talk. That's where truth comes in. If you open your mind to truth then more than likely you will find truth somewhere you weren't expecting to. Truth is everywhere.....

Layci, Stephen, Kenneth and Scottie

Another man we talked to for a good while was right down the road. Jerry is his name. He actually saw us talking with Kenneth and he came down there to make sure we were going to come down the street. We had met him a few weeks before on the same street. His main purpose for getting us down there is always for other people. There was a man down there that needed to take his medicine but he didn't have anything to drink. When we first met him he wanted us to come down there because there was a lady down there that needed blankets. He's a super nice man, always full of hospitality when we go down to his street. Always very thankful for everything and always telling us how much of a blessing we are to them. He points out that he realizes we only bring basic necessities of life, such as water, but it's such a blessing. Jerry dropped out of school in the 9th grade. Ever since then he said he's been attending God's University, learning lessons the hard way. He admits that living on the streets isn't easy "The evil is so thick out here you could cut it with a knife." Jerry is 57 years old and he said living out there has made him more determined to change some things and "get up out of here". He said he is always trying to look at things in a positive light and not blame God for the situation he's in. He just tries to take it in as another lesson learned in GU (God's University).
He left us with a parting thought; he said "We're made to praise God and to have faith in him always. We need to walk through life with the staff of Moses, not beating people over the head with it saying I'm coming through and God's with me, but rather letting God lead the way with the staff. In this life we must have faith. I want to go to heaven! How can I praise God in the grave? I can't. That's why we must do it now, in this life. After we die we don't get a second chance." Truth is everywhere....

Jerry's Street, this is right down the street from the Union Gospel.

Jerry and Britney

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ep9sR-qkkk

Go to the above website to watch a video of Jerry trying to sing but getting interrupted by someone behind us. Listen carefully to the guy in the background. Hilarious!

And of course we finished the night off by going to the church downtown and hanging out with Tom, Jennifer, Jody, Tami and Greg. Scottie rolled down the windows and turned up the music and we all sat on the footsteps of the church. We talked, listened to music and Jennifer's jokes and laughed as she danced and pestered Jody. We all had a great time enjoying each other.
Tom is struggling with some demons of his own and he asked us to be in prayer for him as he tries to fight these demons and temptations. He and Jennifer are trying to get back on their feet and Satan is attacking them aggressively, especially since Tom has a job and some cash flow coming in. Please be in prayer for Tom as he is in the battle field, God knows what he's dealing with.

Sitting on the steps of the church.

These stories are just a few highlights of the day. We have so many friends at Austin Street as well. People we've grown to know and love. A few guys asked for prayers so we prayed right there. Some of the guys share their stories of progress with us because they know we care. Willie got a job with Borden about a month ago and he said he's going to save his money for 3 more months and he's off the streets. You can see the joy beaming from his eyes as those words leave his lips. Michael is getting a job at the VA office and the VA is paying a years worth of rent so he can get back on his feet. He should be off the streets in about 2 weeks. These are the reports you long to hear. These are the stories of hope.

Terry, Scottie and Donald at Austin Street

On the streets you see so many emotions. Some hidden, some not. Sometimes you see a smile that is desperately trying to conceal brokenness and sometimes the brokenness just can't be concealed. Through it all, the brokenness, the loneliness, the confusion, the struggles, you can still see hope. You can see light in the darkness.

This is "Tent City". Yesterday was our first time down there. It's literally a city of card board boxes and make shift tents. I know it's hard to see, it was dark under there. I will try to get a better picture next time.


Please join us in praying for those on the streets to let down their guard and let God into their lives. For them to let go of whatever it is they hang on to and let God deal with it. Pray for their wisdom, understanding and strength.

Find truth everywhere,

Britney & Scottie

Scrap Iron and Britney

A picture is worth a thousand words...

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I'm at a place right now where words just don't cut it. This past week the only word that seems fitting is INDESCRIBABLE. God is indescribable. God's ways and purpose for our lives are indescribable. The way He moves you to a state of speechlessness, where words can't compare to the emotions, is indescribable. These are a few pictures we took when we hit the streets on Groundhog day when the night temperatures dropped to a bone chilling 28 degrees. The Metallica lyrics "where I lay my head is home" takes on a whole new meaning.

Scottie and I posed for a picture with John and Sunshine. We found them in front of the Stew Pot getting ready for the night. We gave them hand warmers and toboggans to help fight off the cold. We talked with them for a good 30 minutes before moving on. John was hoping for dry weather so he could work the next morning for the city's sanitation crew. Notice the writing on the window above Scottie.





Scottie and Dana shaking on a Superbowl bet. The wager was 50 push ups. Dana for the Colts, Scottie for the Bears.........Scottie loses. He pays up the next time we see Dana, I can only imagine the hoots and hollers Dana is going to have. The struggles of street life are wearing Dana down. He's tired. He's 47 and has been on the streets for a long time and he's just tired. Sometimes life just doesn't make sense, sometimes every corner you turn down there's a bigger obstacle in your face. Please be in prayer for Dana. Pray for his strength, and understanding.



Tom and Jennifer's "humble abode". We met Tom and Jennifer when we first started going to Austin St. and have become good friends since then. They now reside on the steps of the Presbyterian Church in downtown Dallas. They both just got a job at a nearby restaurant that opened today. Tom wanted us to take a picture of where they're staying now so he can look back at it and see where they were. They're hoping to be off the streets very soon. From what Tom has told us his boss is a very nice man and he is going to help them find housing. Tom says the people at the church are really nice to them and they have their permission to stay there as long as they keep everything clean.

This is Tom and Jennifer's front porch :)

Tom and Jennifer

This is a picture of Jody, Stephen and Lacy. We met Jody in front of the stew pot. When we got out of the truck he said "Y'all are the ones everyone's been tellin me about." He said he's missed us the last few times we've been down there. Jody is a very nice man that has no problem talking. He's full of jokes and doesn't seem to have any complaints about life. He's staying on the steps of the church also. After leaving the church we questioned whether Jody had blankets for the night. No one had noticed any in his area so we decided to turn around and go check. We gave him a sleeping bag because all the blankets he owned were wet.

Tavis "Travis without the R". Tavis came up to the truck when we were visiting with Tom, Jennifer and Jody in front of the church. We gave him a cup of hot chocolate and he asked if we had any clothes because all he had on was a pull over and jeans. I went to the truck to check out what we had and gave him two coats to put on which both looked to small but he didn't care. He saw a starter jacket under the back seat that I was saving for Billy and he asked about it. I told him I was saving it for another friend and in that same moment God told me to give it to him. I told him to give me the jackets he had on and I looked him in the eye and made him pinkie promise that he would not sell or trade the starter jacket if I gave it to him. He pinkie promised and I gave it to him and started singing Jesus Loves Me and clapping. (like a big dork per Scottie) He knew he had been blessed and was very thankful for it. He said he recognized us from a few weeks ago when he saw us at the Union Gospel. He gave us a hug, posed for a picture and disappeared into the darkness. I bet that was the first time in a long time (if ever) he had to pinkie promise.

For the past month or so when we pray before we go out into the streets I've asked God to gently push us out of our comfort zones and "disturb" us. When I prayed this I was meaning for those that go with us to be affected not myself. But the opposite was true, I was pushed out of my spiritual comfort zone and I was and still am disturbed. I'm being broken and I don't have words for it yet.

Till next time,

Britney & Scottie

Here we go...

I've decided to jump into the modern world and share my thoughts, experiences and stories with, well I guess pretty much everyone.

As most of you know Scottie and I hit the streets of Dallas every week "fishing for lost souls". Most of the time we are accompanied by our God given friends. Our main goal is to share the love of Christ with those that, for the most part, are cast aways in society. We go searching for the homeless. We started last summer just going to Austin Street shelter in downtown Dallas and we've made many friends there. For the past month or so we've been going deep into the cities dark streets to find those who are not sheltered.

Since it's been cold we've been handing out hot chocolate and coffee along with our usual snack of packaged crackers. We also hand out cough drops and give cough medicine to those that are coughing so badly it sounds like they could choke at any moment.

This blog is mainly for me to keep my days straight and remember all the amazing things God is doing, to us and through us. I will try to post a recap of each trip.

I hope you're touched by God and slapped by reality when you read these posts. These are real stories about real people being effected by a very real God.

With much love,

Britney