After a small step of faith, my wife and I find ourselves parked on Blount Street adjacent to Moore Square on a cold, dreary November morning in 2007. Stacked in the back of our van are 48 bacon/egg/cheese biscuits and 60 cups of hot coffee. The Square is more than quiet. Eerie quiet. You could shoot off a cannon without fear of wounding a single soul. Donna and I look at each other and wonder if we’ve really felt the Lord pushing us in this direction. I glance to the rear of the van and quickly calculate how many days it will take me to consume the biscuits. I’m feeling less than confident as I tell her, “I’m going to setup the tables and put the food out”. I’m thinking of the movie “Field of Dreams” for a brief moment.
After setting up the tables, placing the biscuits, cups and coffee into position, I take another look around. I can see only one person. He is sitting on the brick wall across the street at the bus station. Pouring two cups of coffee, I head across the three lanes of Blount Street and ask him, “Do you need a cup of coffee?” Eugene from Ohio responds, “Man, do I !”. I tell him we have “a little” food if he would like something to eat. He springs to his feet. As we walk back across the street, I’m noticing his less than adequate cold weather clothing. He wears a denim jacket, no gloves and no hat. It’s freezing out here. By the time Eugene and I reach the food table, I glance back, and to my surprise, there are at least a dozen people following us. Where did they all come from? I feel more than a little guilty as I remember my doubts and lack of faith. The Lord is really good. It’s too bad he has to work with such flawed people.
After about an hour, the food and coffee are all gone. Little do we know that we we’ve just met many people who will become part of our inner circle of close friends. The conversations today are short, nice and somewhat guarded. We learn and remember many names that day. We share our names as well. We probably ask too many dumb questions because we know very little about life on the streets of downtown Raleigh. But, we are willing to learn and I hope this shows through. We know one thing as we drive home that morning – we love these people and our lives will never be the same.
Looking back over the past 17 months, we continue to share biscuits and coffee but the food is just an “excuse” to come together, share our lives with one another and hang around in the Square well beyond when all the food and coffee are gone. We’ve grown to love our Moore Square friends more and appreciate some of the challenges they face every day. As friends, we have gained the right to share “what we think” and “what we would do”.
Those silly biscuits have opened a door into a new world and into the lives of 50-75 very special people in our lives.
Awesome!
I’ve had lots of similar, great experiences out there in Moore Square.
Keep lovin’ em like Jesus!