Thursday morning the YWAM staff gathers early for intercession.  they pray for YWAM across the globe and for their own neighborhood, the Tenderloin.  This week, we paired up and walked the streets to pray.
A couple of block away I discovered a woman crouched in front of the metal security gate of a closed Asian grocery. In spite of the hood covering her chopped-cut, in-need-of-washing hair I recognized her.  A. had been a regular at Because Justice Matters last summer when I spent two weeks here. She was working hard to stay clean so she could get into treatment.  I knew the BJM staff had worked hard to help her get into a hard-to-find, over-full treatment center that served women.  I knew she had gained some good "clean and sober" time and was waiting for an opening in a post-treatment "sober house" program.  Then, she relapsed and disappeared into the black hole of San Francisco's community of homeless addicts.

A looked awful. No socks. ragged shoes with holes. Not a single thing in hand - not a backpack or tote bag or even a personal hygiene kit.  Is she living in those nylon running pants, hoodie and holey running shoes?  When did she last eat? or shower? or sleep in a bed?

A let me pray for her.  When I told her I remembered her (I had, in fact, prayed for her consistently the entire year since I met her in summer of 2012) she smiled. "You've got a good memory," she said. Then, she recognized my prayer partner.  "How are you?" she asked....as though she were meeting a long-lost friend. As though she didn't look sick and battered and exhausted.  Her smile. This was the A. I remembered. What a sweet, loving soul.  My heart felt as if a giant fist was squeezing it without mercy.

 "Please come by and see us at the YWAM base," I encouraged. "We miss you.  Nail day is always Monday. Always.  And YOU are always welcome."

People who have never been addicts or homeless often ask questions or express opinions about the how and why of addiction and homelessness.  Some say, "They choose to sleep on the streets. There are beds  and shelters all over San Francisco."
Others say, "Evidently someone like A doesn't want to be sober.  Everything was done for her and she relapsed and left the treatment program."

I'm learning new things.  Some people choose the streets over shelters because some shelters are infested with bed bugs. Others cannot endure sleeping on cots with people only feet (or inches) away. The paranoia, fear, anxiety and other symptoms of mental illness simply spiral out of control in such a close and closed-in setting.  And, I learn from people in recovery that relapse is common. for some, the closer they get to the "real world" of job training or school, the more terrifying sobriety becomes.  The greater the pain of possible failure - and the fear of it.  Better, some think, to relapse now than to risk falling from so great a height.  Better the addiction they know than the scary world of self-sufficiency they would have to manage as sober people. 

A. shows me that nothing is as simple as it appears.  She is still the kind,gentle soul I remember. And, it is a miracle she is alive.

Tonight I asked Father for another miracle. That He would bring A. home. That He would intervene and re-wire her body so it no longer drives her to drugs and alcohol.  That she would be able to SEE and FEEL Him and His love surrounding her.

Massive blog delay....how embarrassing to say i didn't know how to log out with one email address and log in with the other?  I'm blaming it on a) being 60 b) lack of vegetables, c) brain fart.   Don't tell my son-in-law Alex or he'll tease me til I cry.  That's an exaggeration...

SO.  San Francisco is hot and muggy. You should hear the locals whine.  Back in the midwest, everyone is sweating and there's a flood on University Avenue in front of Whole Foods.  Here, it sprinkled yesterday and was a little muggy.  Hmmm....cowgirl up, San Francisco!

The Women's Center has been looking like plywood, wires, and pipes since I arrived at the beginning of June.  Today an alarming thing happened. They discovered a water pipe that doesn't connect to anything.  What I know about plumbing could be summed up in two words (almost nothing), but this sounds really bad to me.  How can a pipe connect to nothing? How does that work????

Please pray.  The budget for this project has already skyrocketed because of contracting and materials costs going beyond estimates.  Now, they will have to tear up the floor to find out what's happening with this pipe.  This is very discouraging to BJM folks who hoped to open the center in May. Please pray.

News here....some new interns arrive and some leave.  Looks like it will be like this all summer. What a joy to meet new "kids" (as in they're all young enough to be my kids...I love it!)

 I am focusing on doing healing prayer with staff and students.  Friday I'll do the second of two workshop sessions on Boundaries and Trust in Relationships.  This week we'll explore what boundaries look like and what words we can use to set them.  We'll brainstorm about common situations and how, when, and what kind of boundaries they might warrant.  When they asked me who would be a good candidate for this workshop I said, "Every woman on the planet."  ....Doing our part for healthy relationships everywhere!

Happy almost-weekend. 

Week 3 in SF.  Heading over to the Yerba Buena Park and artists working and displaying their work outside under a deep-blue, nearly cloudless sky.  It's about 60 degrees.  Plan to walk to the Embarcadero and have salad and a nice white wine at a bay-side table.  Then, buy a baguette and some scrumptious goat cheese for dinner.   Happy Sunday in San Francisco.

Last night about 10:30 pm my daughter Beth dropped me off at the YWAM base. The night was dark and cold.
So, we drive up to the base, I pull out my suitcase and roll my way to the front door, key in hand.  Beth stays in the car - it's not a safe place to be out on the street at night.
As I unlock the door, Beth says, "I love you."  I answer, "I love you too!"  And, from somewhere underneath a pile of sleeping bag/jacket/blanket/backpack/stuff-filled-bags on the sidewalk near the door, I hear, "I love you more."
"I'm with you," i reply.  "she's a beauty."
"I noticed." came the answer.
"Good night," I say.
"Good night."

I haul my suitcase upstairs and walk toward my simple-but-cozy room.  I sleep.
so, I hope, does a friendly man with a great sense of humor huddled on the sidewalk among all his belongings.

Thinking today about how we create a culture of God's presence at the BJM women's center.  Where "what's happening?" is simply "He's here and He's wildly in love with humans."

Apostle John Eckhart from Chicago said, "God's presence is what heals. We can counsel and guide and support and, still, it is God's presence that heals.  So, our job is to become so saturated with His presence that it flows out of our bellies like a river of living water."

Creating a culture of God's Presence means saturating our environment - our speech and thoughts and physical environment - with God's Presence.    Becoming saturated.  soaking it up like dry sponges. Filling WAY above the "full" line.

And, in turn, that beautiful Presence will flow out of our spirits like a river.  A living, flowing, life-giving river.

Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Festival!  Yeah for old hippies and "legalize Marijuana" activists everywhere.  My two sisters visited for the weekend and spent time Sunday at the festival.  Haven't seen so many tie-dyed clothing items for sale since 1970! 
About an hour into our leisurely "festival" walk, we came upon a tent with "Faith Readings" painted on the side.  The sign read "Dream Interpretation, Destiny, Spirit Readings, and Prophetic Art"   Hmmm.  so I have to ask "Where are you all from?"  The cute 20 something says "Redding."  I smile.  She smiles.  I whisper, "Bethel?"  She whispers, "Yeah....but don't tell anyone."

It was a Bethel stealth supernatural ministry team!  Coolness.  One of my sisters went in with me.  She asked for a "destiny reading" and received two beautiful words about her gifts and destiny.  One girl said, "I see you stepping off a ferris wheel that has been going and going and going.  You're getting off.  Maybe it's a cycle ending or a change or.... Then, I see you riding in a vehicle without a top.  Maybe a convertible...not sure. But the sky is blue and the wind is blowing. And you're singing....really joyfully and loud. For the fun of it."  

My sister is speechless. Because she and her husband are considering retiring and moving to Key West to live on their sailboat.  A vehicle without a top where wind blows and you can sing as loudly as you want because there's no one around to hear!  

God is good!  He obviously hangs out in Haight Ashbury just waiting for a chance to show someone - like my sisters - how much he loves them!

Gotta run.  It's Nail Day at the YWAM base and lots of preparation to do.  God shows up here to see women be pampered and feel special. It's on His Monday calendar, I'm positive!