The Roots and Causes of Homelessness

tiny house
Tiny House

Within a population of 320 million people in the United States. If we have ‘X’ number of homeless people why can’t we build ‘X’ number of tiny homes? Done. Homelessness has been eliminated! Well…. we know that isn’t how life works. The reason why it doesn’t work is the same as why Liberalism fails.

Adam Curry interviewed Alan Graham, the CEO of Mobile Loaves and Fishes and the Community First Village in Austin, TX. Below I will quote portions of the podcast, but it is highly encouraged to listen to the podcast itself.

The single greatest cause [of] homelessness is a profound catastrophic loss [of] family.

5:17 seconds

The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection.

15:25s

We don’t believe in the model of fixing or repairing humans.

37:10s

There is no graduation [from the community] that’s another fallacy in the system.

38:35s

We [people] desire to be fully and wholly loved and fully and wholly known.

48:06s

We seem to have a culture of middle men. If somebody is bothering me I call the cops. It’s rarely somebody going to someone else. “Hey, let’s solve this problem.”

48:35s

Single Guy Special – Tortellini Alfredo

This turned out to be an unexpected surprise. I combined all of the ingredients as stated. It didn’t look very appealing going in, but it came out beautiful.

Ingredients:

1 package Tortellini
Half bag of Popcorn chicken
1 Jar of cheesy Alfredo Sauce
1 Cup Water
Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a casserole dish. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

Three Birds

bird hit on windshield
June 20th bird hit

I experienced my third bird strike in four weeks against my car. The first one happened on June 20th on my way home from work. I thought it was crazy but considered it a random event. The next bird hit me on my way to church on June 26th. I was driving in town so I was going much slower than highway speeds like last time. The bird should have had time to avoid me. This time I thought they must be out to get me since I knocked down a partial nest at my house.

bird hits windshield second time
June 26th Bird strike

On July 11th, I was driving into work being very concerned and tense about leaving my job of eight years and starting a new job next week. I was going about 45 mph on a twisty country road slightly less than my usual pace. Bird number three decides to leave the tree that it is sitting in and flies into my path. It makes a very deliberate turn in front of me and opens its wings as if it were going to land on the windshield right in my face.

All three of the birds have hit on the driver-side door frame in the same exact way. The third bird was distinctive because it was solid black. I turned in my letter and left work about an hour later. When I was back home I sat down and considered what had happened. I don’t believe anything that happens three times with such deliberate action is random. Experiencing life with Amy and now without her has taught me to pay attention. I read up on bird omens, birds flying toward the observer is supposed to be a good sign.

Should the bird or birds fly straight at you, it means they will bring you good luck (windfall, blessings etc.) with them.

While staying away from mysticism, I also recognize when a message is being sent.

Write These Words In Stone

Cheap words you will find written on a post it note. Better words can be found written in a book, but only the best words are worth carving into a granite slab

So you’ll remember what I forgot to say, write this down.

You can find a chisel, I can find a stone.
Folks will be reading these words, long after we’re gone.

His:

The man who finds a wife finds a treasure and receives favor from the Lord. – Prov 18:22 (NLT)

Hers:

Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise. –Prov 31:31 (NLT)

Amen. Love you, Amy.

A Gift From my Church

New and Old. I am thankful for my church family. The book on top is a gift from my church family that I appreciate very much. The Bible underneath was given to me by my pastor when I graduated high school. The Bible is starting to show some wear on the spine. As they say a scuffed Bible is a Bible worn down by the prayers prayed over it. An old Bible that looks brand-new is a Bible that has never been used.

20141116_103803

Not Worthy

I wrote this on Facebook on July 30, 2014, the day after Amy passed away. The comments after are so important to me.

“8 Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. 9 For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.” 1 Cor 15
Even if all we could afford was a 99 cent frosty at Wendy’s. Amy always made me feel like a king for spending that time with her. She appreciated my attention in a way that paid me back ten times what I gave to her. She asked me over and over again what she could do to please me as much as I pleased her. She never quite understood that to please me it was enough for Amy to be herself. The suit of armor to be Amy’s white knight doesn’t fit me but it is something that I wish to grow into.

not-worthy-fb-post

Treasure

Amy Beth Brake (1982 – 2014)

The man who finds a wife finds a treasure and receives favor from the Lord. – Prov 18:22 (NLT)

But this precious treasure—this light and power that now shine within us—is held in perishable containers, that is, in our weak bodies. So everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own. –2 Cor 4:7 (NLT)

Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. 21Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be. –Matt 6:20-21 (NLT)