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Monday, January 9, 2006
Projects
Today's so hot that I had to turn on the air conditioning...January 9 in Norfolk. It was a good day to begin my next home improvement project.
A few weeks ago I stopped to talk to a young couple who've been working on a house nearby. They claimed to be jacks of all trades, so I showed them the hideous, unbelievable mess in my back yard. They said they could get rid of all the car parts, tree trunks, broken glass and metal, weeds, etc. and then put up a nice privacy fence around my newly cleaned up space.
Today they showed up at 9:00 A.M. and worked like dogs all day until 5:00 P.M. I went to Home Depot and bought all the stuff they said they needed for this job. Over the course of the day, I heard little hints and bits here and there which made me uneasy. I walked Porque Choppe around the corner to the house where the young couple has been working. Their ex-boss was there with a guy who's going to plaster for him. Together we had a thorough discussion about these two young people.
Seems that they've been homeless and are now shacking up in a garage. They have no transportation. Someone must drive them to all their jobs. Both of them are under 25 but they've done a lot of hard living.
Once again I am impressed by how fortunate I am, how thankful I should be. I've never been in the dreadful plight of these two, up against it in such a real way. In their place, I would be depressed beyond redemption, but they're cheerful.
About 1:00P.M. I went out and told them that in my opinion they should stop and eat lunch. There was no need for them to go on doing that kind of terribly hard physical work without stopping to eat. They looked at each other and then she said, "Oh, no. That's alright. I'm not hungry." He chimed in too, "Not hungry." I insisted that they stop and eat their lunches. Finally the truth came out. Not only did they not have lunches, they hadn't eaten for two days...no money.
Well, you know what happened next. I fed them until their sides creaked. I have no idea whether at the end of this week my yard will look better, but I do know that God sent these kids my way so that I could keep them from starving. I'm always glad to hae a chance to pay back a tiny fragment of all that God has given to me. If I gave with both hands for the rest of my life, I'd still die in debt.
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