Saturday....heading to the neighborhood farmer's market.  Being a Wisconsin lady, I'm accustomed to seeing really fresh fruit or veggies come and go - sometimes within a week or so.  Missing Wisconsin sweet corn and tomatoes is all I can say!

San Francisco is all about farmer's markets.  In the Tenderloin, folks walk 5 blocks to Market Street where vendors line a pedestrian mall area near the amazing public library. Stats show that 75% of the foodstamps used at farmer's markets in the region are used right here in this neighborhood.  This is particularly important because there are NO grocery stores in the Tenderloin.  Some little mom-and-pop convenience stores serve the community. Some do it well - like the Amigos Grocery a couple of blocks from the YWAM base. The middle eastern owners kept the "friendly" name. Other store owners exploit the poor with high prices, low quality, and an emphasis on cigarettes and lottery tickets.

So, heading to the wonderful farmer's market today. Strawberries are still in season (yeah, I hear the groans from the midwest here!).   tomatoes look great.  Gonna see if California sweet corn measures up.  And salad stuff....lots of salad stuff!

Heading to Redding, California on Friday for a week-long "soak" in God's presence at Bethel Church.  The YWAM staff are going on retreat.  I will be staying with the spectacular Chris and Sarah Pollash and their hilarious, beautiful boys.  Then, a night with Melissa Haunty - ready to start her 3rd year as a School of Supernatural Ministry student at Bethel....and one brilliant, anointed girl!

Being here for nearly 3 months now, i see the need for retreat.  For time spent away and in quiet. Or time spent laughing and just having fun.   Living with your front door literally "on the street" takes a lot out of people.  Thursday, YWAM opens their "ellis room" for a food pantry for elderly neighbors.  Picture a line of a hundred or more tiny, Chinese grandmothers, disabled seniors, and a few grizzled old guys...often vets living in SRO apartments.  Some of the Chinese grandmas shout instructions (in Chinese, of course).  all the volunteers smile and hand out fresh fruit and vegetables. A dozen eggs. This week, canned soup that will be nice on a cold evening...

An angry, not-elderly man comes in demanding food.  Sorry....only for seniors.  He yells. Threatens W, a kind, good-humored guy from YWAM's 360 discipleship group for guys from the streets.  For a few minutes, I'm afraid W. is going to be hurt.  YWAM folks are praying silently.  W. stays calm. Doesn't return the threat (a new skill for this man who has lived on the streets since he was a kid....thank you, Jesus!)  Police are called.  Things settle. 

Places like the Tenderloin can be emotionally draining, physically in-your-face.    YWAM people work really hard.  They (in my humble, midwestern opinion) need more rest - and time to do it!

Thursday I rode the 27 bus up (and up and up) the hills to see my daughter Beth and her guy Casey. Waited at the corner...a bar across the street where somebody (quite literally ) staggers out.  Not sure if he's going to walk right into a moving vehicle.  On a regular basis here I find myself saying, "Jesus, we need you here. Help! This isn't good."He makes it across with some luck and maybe angels. 

On the bus stop side of Ellis, there's a dark, sorta sketchy looking storefront.  Turns out, it's the local version of Fitchburg Serenity Center (location for AA and other 12 Step meetings).  An AA meeting adjourns and smiling, friendly folks exit.  People hug each other.  "See you tomorrow," someone says. A blind man jokes with another gentlemen sitting on the sidewalk.  "I'm in your way," says sidewalk sitting guy.  "Not at all," jokes the blind man, "Just walkin' where you happen to be sittin'"

Now, I get to whisper, "Thank you, Jesus. This is good."