Homelessness...a character trait of Atlanta

I have an issue with homelessness in Atlanta. Every large city has its homeless population, especially New York City where I lived before coming to Atlanta.

What really is bothering me about the homeless in Atlanta is that I feel like I can't do anything about it. I see the guys living under the bridges, I see John in the bus stop, I see the little tent city under the big tree next to my gym, and I see the lady living on the bench and what can I do about it?

My husband and I have befriended John, the gentle soul who lives in the bus stop closest to our home. We have taken him clothes, blankets, food, etc and have spent considerable time talking to him. He has had a hard life.

I have made a few phone calls, have spoken with a few people about getting John a place to stay. I have spoken to John about it and have told him that when he's ready we will gladly take him to wherever he needs to go, etc...(we don't want to force him).

He doesn't have a drug addiction issue and he isn't a vet. He's mentally ill.

So what can be done for him?

He's been homeless for practically 30 years. The day he graduated high school his parents drove him from his small Georgia town and dropped him off on the street in Atlanta. He's been homeless ever since. John has lived in and out of every shelter and transitional place in Atlanta and yet nothing has really "worked."

My husband called me a few days ago on his way to school to let me know that John wasn't in the bus stop and that all of his stuff was gone.

This morning as I was driving to work I looked over and noticed that John was back. I also noticed that his entire had nearly was wrapped in gauze.

I went over to talk to him and he told me he was beat up by...the COPS!!!!! It took a while for him to talk about it as he was really shaken up about it. They wanted him off the street but he didn't know where to go and this was the result. Even the hospital put him back on the street. A similar thing happened to him in July only he was locked up for five days and then put back on the street.

Where is justice in all of this?

I have had enough! I took John this afternoon to an emergency shelter that I have a connection with (after spoiling him at Wendy's) and am now on the quest to find something long term for him.

But John is one person. What about everyone else?

Homelessness in Atlanta really has me frustrated right now.

What would Jesus do in all of this? I thought about this the other day after I met with some people about what can be done (before John went missing) and felt that Jesus would invite John into his home, feed him a nice meal, and allow him to clean himself up. Obviously this isn't the safest thing to do, but would Jesus do it? Should we do it?

I called my husband and talked to him about inviting John over for dinner that night. That was the day he disappeared.

LORD, help me to LOVE John and to represent you well and LORD, please watch over all the people on the streets in this city tonight. Keep them safe.

"I want new friends, not old mirrors"

Above is a quote I read recently that really spoke to me. I am adjusting to life in a new city and am attempting to make friends out of my current "church only" social circle. I am also trying to "come up" with a hobby and think it would be great if my hobby included new friends who were not from my workplace/church/clique. I have made one friend, Tina, so far. I am working on it. I'm also a workaholic so if I have a hobby and friends who aren't associated with work...

This quote really made me think about who Jesus' friends were. He wasn't friends with those who were on his level theologically or intellectually, but was the friends of publicans, sinners, and fishermen. If we are to follow the example of Christ then we, too, should be friends with those who are different from us.

LORD, help me to follow your example and to love all people and to befriend those who have no friends--like John who is living in the bus stop.

PLEASE HELP FILL MY RED KETTLE FOR THE SALVATION ARMY!

Life this week

So I ended up going to a Spinning class that night last week that I wrote the blog. It was quite an enjoyable class.

This week is quite a different story. I am on the road again for work and am staying in my little house in the mountains in Georgia. There is no gym here and it happens to be surprisingly too cold to do any exercise outside. So I find myself sitting for a week. I also don't have control over the selection of my meals, so I need to be really careful.

On a brighter note I know that I am making some progress. My body fat has decreased .2% and I have lost three pounds (one pound each for the past three weeks). So despite the fact that it will probably all come back this week, I am thankful for seeing the little progress. I need to focus on the positive. In the meantime, if I don't see (or really feel) more progress over about the next month I am going to go shopping and buy some bigger jeans. My pants are all tight on me and uncomfortable.

I started a new Bible Study/ devotional book. I started the "Jesus" series by Beth Moore and so far I have been really blessed. I tend to be one of those people who reads the Bible and has questions about what I am reading. I don't just believe blindly a lot of times and I like to think about it. I am still in the beginning of the study and it has a lot to say about Mary's pregnancy, which has always been one of the questions I have had--did it really happen exactly like that? How does the Holy Spirit "come upon" (Lk 1:35) someone like that? How did she know? Why did Gabriel come to her when she was all alone? What made her highly favored? etc. It's a good study and I am being blessed by it.

This week I will just have to spend more time focusing on my spiritual life and put the physical stuff on hold for the week.

Thank you, LORD for this reminder of time needed to be spent with you.

Pondering exercise?

I didn't feel like going to the gym early this morning. I slept in instead. Now I find myself sitting at the computer after work wasting time instead of going to the gym. I thought I'd be productive while doing so and I began to read online the advantages of different exercises, mainly cardio.

Today is supposed to be the day that I swim, but honestly, I just don't feel like getting in the pool today so I thought about adding the lap swim later this week. My body is a little sore from my workout yesterday so swimming would be a good thing, but then I read that swimming does nothing to help drop any weight. In fact, it may have the opposite effect (due to the body cooling down and not heating up). With other cardio workouts the body heats up and burns calories for up to 18 hours afterward. The same is not true with swimming because the body never really "warms" up.

This is what I found:

Calories Expended During Exercise for the regular workouts that I do

(for my body weight; at a moderate level; for an hour in duration--based on some formula)

biking-635
running-635
tennis (singles)-635 (my husband and I love to play!)
weight lifting-238
hiking-476 (rarely get to do it, but I enjoy it!)


Looking above are my regular workouts minus the Spinning class and some other cardio machines. Almost all of them burn the same amount of calories according to the formula, so why does it matter which workout I do? Why does my wellness coach want me lifting weights three times a week?

And alas, I am pondering exercise.

New routine

I met with a "wellness coach" over a week ago now and we discussed some of my difficulties with working out and we talked about the weight that I've gained. After we came up with yet another plan I left the gym wondering--why do I feel like every time I move to somewhere new that my exercise habits have to change? Part of the answer is quite practical--they have to change. A new place with new responsibilities lead the need to be flexible with a past rigid workout plan, etc.

But what's really getting to me is that it seems like everyone else in the gym has a buddy to workout with and I don't. Now it's never bothered me before because unlike some other people in the gym I am not there to socialize...I am there to workout..or so I used to be until now.

Moving to Atlanta has been hard on me. I am adjusting to a new life and am adjusting to being far away from family and friends and while I've made a few friends in the three months that Andy and I have been here, they are all members of my church or are extensions of that church group. I am missing my non-churched-pre-christian conglomerate of friends.

In NY they were everywhere. Every now and again I could hang out with them or talk to them and not have to worry about work related things (I work for the church I attend) all the time. I don't have that luxury here...at least not yet and I am left wondering...what is the LORD teaching me in all of this?

So as I go to the gym I am also trying to build relationships. Ultimately I want to build relationships and live in a way that models the life of the LORD I follow, but I want to be able to do that in a way that is not defined only by my clergy title. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do and wouldn't trade it for the world. I really believe that it's a calling, but that doesn't mean that it isn't difficult from time to time--just like going to the gym.

So along with my new routine comes a new outlook on going to the gym.

New gym= New music

I've noticed some interesting differences between the gym in NY and the gym in Georgia. Among them are the people living under the trees next to the gym, the age of the members of the new gym, as well as their ethnicity. One of the things I noticed today was the difference in music played at the pool:

Suffern, NY: Jack Johnson and similar music
Westend, Atlanta, GA: Barry White and some old time soul and R & B