This Town

I've been a bit buried by work again. Lots of projects, deadlines galore...and somehow I'm in the middle of a lot of them. Treading water and dealing with the most urgent of the day's crises. When it gets like that, I don't have much time to read the paper, or listen to the news. But this week was a bit different. And I was struck again by a number of articles, and I'm again praying for those I've met downtown.

For a season, I walked and prayed through the streets of our city core. I used to be there a lot. Just walking, praying... even serving meals and worshipping in one of the churches whose goal was just to be a bright spot for those who were rejected in so many ways. The people I met along the way touched my heart. Their stories were often dramatic and sometimes they were just stories. Mostly they were appreciative of someone who would listen, even just for a moment.

The news this week has brought me back to those days, and back to my knees again...

This week I've been praying for:
a) The family and friends of a girl who was found in a motel room. (Good bye Nikki).
b) A 52 year old drummer who was beaten and left on the street. The bus driver, turned good Samaritan who helped him. The two teens who kicked and pounded him with a weight. The two teens who fled the scene.
c) Wellington street residents who have witnessed so much this year.
d) The officers who diligently work for our protection and witness so much in the process.
e) Paramedics who calmly work in difficult moments.

There are others too.
But those are the ones that are on my heart at the moment.

I hope to stop downtown later today. Pray again at the clock tower.

I love this town.