WELCOME FROM HAYWOOD STREET:
UPDATES & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Happy for the hope of once again gathering around our welcome tables. Sad about having multiple special events cancelled this spring. And VERY grateful for the generous financial sponsors of “A Seat at the Table” and “Imagine…Reprise!” who directed us to use their sponsorship dollars to support Haywood Street’s ongoing COVID-19 response and core programs. Thank you, friends.
On Wednesday, Father Mike shared his first sermon via Youtube livestream. If you missed it, you can watch it here!
Next week, Pastor Brian will walk us through Luke 24:24-35 and our leading question will be: “Where does resurrection happen?”
All sermon’s are accessible through the Haywood Street Youtube channel and are streamed live every Wednesday at 1:30 EST.
A big “Thank you!” to all those have made and donated masks. Thank you for helping to keep our friends safe and healthy.
Behind the scenes, we are working on new ways of providing clothing, shoes and toiletries to those in need. For now, and for the safety of all, we are not accepting any new donations.
| Check out this beautiful compilation of photos with singing and strumming by our beloved McKenzie Dillingham. Click here. |
CURRENT NEEDS:
1. Make a meal for Friends staying in Respite. Click here to sign up!
2. We need a bed! Our new intern, Kaleb, will be moving in soon and we are ISO a mattress and frame for him. Please contact Steve if you are able to help!
A HAYWOOD STREET REFLECTION BY: DAVE
| The Other Side of Lazarus, Part ll Something About The Light |
Soooooo I have a half-whetted plan, amazing, but where do I go from here? You see in most of Jesus’ miracles, you know the ones where dead people come back to life, there is always a few moments, or perhaps a few days, or even weeks of readjustment. That played out no differently on the bus stop bench. The joy soon faded to fear when I realized that to have a new life, I must complete the old death first, and I had not. Funny thing about light shining into darkness, everything the light hits is exposed. Uh oh! In the first few hours after the light began to shine in the tomb, it was hard for me to see with my brand-new eyes, so I squinted, then I panicked. What if people see the real me? Oh no! Is being free of the tomb really that important? So, I started to fight to roll the stone back over the opening, so that the darkness would return and the panic would stop. In most all cases we all have this problem. Many of you reading this, know exactly how I felt that day. Scary stuff huh? I was determined to give my life over, and I realized that the “once saved, always saved” scenario was not in play. I new that from this moment forward, I had to let people investigate the light and see all the things I had been hiding there for years. Some of the stuff I was seeing as the light took over, I had forgotten about, and so I climbed back up the road I walked down to get to the bus stop and walked into the woods. At the top, I sat down beside a pine tree in a little pine forest. The sun began to fade, and the rain began to fall, and I began to weep. Two days had passed before I really came to my senses, I was cold and afraid and confused. I was in a town that I was not familiar with, not really. I guess that primal instincts began to take over a bit, as I realized that it had been two days without water or food. I knew I had to leave the pine forest, but where too? The plan I had made was fading fast. I did not realize at this moment that the real plan was being executed without me evening knowing it. So, I pushed forward, back down the hill, water was the priority and that came with my first reality, no cup. When there is no water fountain in sight and you are very thirsty you must improvise, and I did. I went to the nearest garbage can, you know the ones on every city street that are heavy with the solid heavy rubber lids on them. I looked through the hole in the lid to see inside. “Wait a minute, back up the wagon, what?” Why did I not just walk up to the convenience store, which was literally 30 yards away and buy a bottle of water? The truth is, I have no idea. It never once crossed my mind, McDonalds was literally not even a quarter of a mile away. I could have quenched my thirst and tamed my hunger in one swipe of the credit card, but it literally never crossed my mind. Something was happening to me, that I had no control over. I only new that I wanted to be obedient to God and I really wanted to live. Remember the little note pad I mentioned, well part of the plan I mentioned was not to touch money for a couple of years, although in the end that was only my plan and did not make sense in God’s plan, if we are calling it that. At that moment it was still the plan. My choice was a mountain dew bottle. I walked into the bathroom at the aforementioned McDonalds, rinsed it out in the bathroom, filled it with water, drank the entire bottle, and grabbed a refill before I slipped out the side door, it would appear, un-noticed. I walked through this tunnel and towards what looked like the downtown area. All along the way I struggled to breath, stopping every 5 minutes or so to breath and rest, my mind was racing with thoughts about the pine forest and the work done there a few days before. For you see there, was a truth about a tree………..to be continued.
