An encounter with Kanye West and a homeless man

Interesting story from last Friday...

I was on my way back home after having dinner with a friend and it was EXTREMELY cold, like bitter-cold. I was passing by a homeless man all bundled up (couldn't even really see his face because he was so bundled) who was holding up a sign and a cup for cash.

Now, my natural inclination was to get to the subway station as quickly as possible because it was SO cold (and I am not a fan of cold weather). But I felt bad for the man because it was so cold outside. I traced my steps back and dropped some money into his cup. I then asked him if he wanted anything like coffee. He said that hot chocolate would be awesome. So I run (it's cold) over to Tim Horton's, buy some hot chocolate, walk back, and give it to the guy. We have a short conversation about how he ended up on the streets and I'm surprised by how "sane" he was, relative to the many homeless people I've talked with on the streets of NYC. (They say that 80% of people on the streets have some sort of "mental illness".)

Anyways, I leave to go home and on my subway ride home, I'm thinking about the man and what I could do to help him out, especially with the freezing weather and all. I think about love and Jesus' definition for love -- the story of the Samaritan who stopped for the helpless one. His act of love for this stranger was providing housing until he got better. It's so... simple. :) Love isn't religion (the priest and the Levite passed the guy right by); it's defined as caring for someone even though you know they won't pay you back. It freely gives.

So I decide to try to find him housing for the night because at least he'll keep warm for one night... I call some people up and my friend Amos picks up his phone. He agrees to meet me to help this homeless man find housing.

So, picture this:

Amos and Cadengo (our other friend) in the front with me and the homeless man (Nigel) in the back of the car, driving around NYC looking for a hotel.

We park temporarily at a street while Amos looks up hotels on his phone. I spot a hotel across the street so we drive up to it. I go into the hotel and have a hard time opening the really heavy door, only to see a cool-looking African-American man with sunglasses open the door for me from behind. I thank him and walk up to the front desk to ask if they have any availabilities. They had none so I went back to the door to leave... and all these girls push past me, screaming in high voices, "OMG!!!!!!! I can't believe he's here!!!!!! OMGOMGOMG!!!!" I'm thinking, "Okay, ladies.... calm down."

I go into the car and Amos immediately asks, "Hey, is that Kanye?" I look to where Amos is pointing and he looks like the guy who opened the door for me... (still has his shades on) so I ask, "Um.. did he open the door for me from behind?" Amos, "Yeah, he was right behind you."

And then I'm like the ladies: "OMGOMGOMOGM!!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE KANYE OPENED THE DOOR FOR ME!!!!"

So random, eh?!

And all this is happening WHILE Nigel (the homeless man) is in the car. He comments, "Kanye's got good beats." :D

Now I rarely see celebrities so I couldn't help but to think that this was God's way of saying, "Good job, girl. You're serving the least of these... Here's a little treat. :)" I seriously sometimes feel the applause of heaven when we do little things in Jesus' name and in His love.

Long story short - we end up driving to Newark (near Nigel's telemarketing job) and book him a hotel for the night.

And an unnamed person ended up booking the room for him through gambling winnings they had earlier that week. *Cough*

Funny, eh?

Life is surely an adventure when you follow Jesus. Ha.