#17 Tears of Gratitude
The Lord blessed us and our PV friends with another beautiful Saturday morning. The married couple, Chris and Vivian, who joined us last week, came again yesterday. It was great to have them with us! Vivian is such a sweet person. She and I had the joy of delivering a new walker with wheels to DL, one of our PV friends. When we gave it to him, tears instantly filled his eyes, and he was at a loss for words. He then said he had been in so much pain for the last few days that he had hardly been able to walk. He was genuinely thankful for the new walker.
DL lives with our friend D. who had lost part of his leg from diabetes earlier this year. (And I was thrilled to hear that D. got clearance from his orthopedist and can now start the process of getting a prosthetic leg!) Anyway, D. rolled his wheelchair out to the living room with tears in his eyes, also so thankful for the walker he overheard us giving to his roommate. He, too, told us DL had been in a great deal of pain. DL’s old walker was so worn and the wheels damaged, that it was of little help. To see these two grown men moved to tears from heartfelt gratitude was truly special. I told them they are loved and that we are thankful to be their friends.
As Vivian and I walked back to our table where Shawn was visiting with other friends, and some of ladies who live at PV were helping hand out stuff we brought, Vivian said about D. & DL, “They are so nice.” She was impacted by how kind and thankful these men who have lived such hard lives were. But God is merciful and kind and always at work in His children’s lives, no matter how hard those lives may have been.
The Atlanta Dream Center Church had received a donation of some furniture that our Adopt-a-Block captain, Jonathan, brought to PV in a box truck. Chris was a great help in delivering the items to the residents who took them. I am so happy to have Chris and Vivian as part of our team!
I did ask for requests this week. One of the donations in the box truck was an area rug. But there was only one, so I told another person who was just a little too late to get it that I would try to get her one. I figure 5x8 or 8x10 will work. She has no color preference. The other requests were clothes in specific sizes: medium ladies jeans; large to extra-large women’s stretch pants; women’s 3x-4x clothes; men’s 36-waist pants (not sure on length, but short); and men’s 32x34 jeans. Many of our PV friends prefer jeans, because they are warmer. And sweats in all sizes are great, too.
So, if you have any of these items to donate or want to pick some up at a thrift store (and get reimbursed!), I can arrange to get them from you this week, or you may leave them on my front porch at any time. I’ll just need them by Friday afternoon.
Thank you SO much for all that so many of you have already given to our friends downtown! You are a truly blessing to them. I do hope you will join us one Saturday and meet some of these friends for yourself.
Holly