Our new friend, Earl.

Last night Chase and I forced ourselves out of the apartment to go to the gym. Actually, Chase forced me out of the apartment, but that's besides the point. We went and stayed a good hour and a half. Chase actually worked out for that period of time. I, on the other hand, did about 40 minutes of cardio and 50 minutes on the recumbant bike, while watching American Idol. We don't have cable at the apartment, so it was like Heaven. Well, Chase had duty the night before and brought the toothpaste with him and forgot to bring it home. Since he took it with him the morning before, I had already gone a day without brushing my teeth and was not about to subject my coworkers to 2 days' worth of nastiness, so we went to Albertsons, the grocery store next door to the gym, to get toothpaste. It was about 9:30 at night, and there was a guy outside of Albertsons, face down on the ground. As we got closer we realized that he was praying. He stood back up and grabbed his guitar and began playing and singing. We walked by him into the grocery store. Neither one of us hardly ever carry cash on us, so we had nothing to tip him with. We did as about 85% of people do and walked by with our heads down, trying to ignore the homeless guy with the beard, the dirty clothes, and the guitar with stickers of all of the branches of the military covering it. Of course, we felt sorry for the guy. We should be used to it by now, living in California where it seems like there are more homeless people than not, but we always feel a burning conviction when we pass homeless people asking for money - whether they're really homeless or not - because Jesus called His children to show love to everyone.

While we were looking at toothpaste, Chase asked if I wanted to by the guy something like gatorade. Why didn't I think of that? We decided to by him some dinner as well. We figured everyone likes a free meal. We found 2 pre-made, ready to eat sandwiches in the deli section, and got him a big bottle of blue gatorade, because everyone likes the blue kind. You can't really go wrong with that one.

I'm not going to lie, my stomach was in knots as we checked out at the register and was about to walk outside to offer this guy something to eat and drink. I'm not very good at knowing what to say to homeless people. I mean, what if he was drunk and embarrassed himself or us? What if he was angry at us for offering something other than money? What if he was just plain crazy? At least I had Chase with me. We walked outside and the guy was talking to another homeless guy. I sensed some animosity, as the new homeless guy stomped off. I guess they didn't know each other. Chase was the first to say something. He offered the guy what we had bought, and he was very grateful. He introduced himself as Earl J. Cox, named after the 7th division of something. He was a veteran from Nam and used to belong to the Navy. He was very nice to us, although we could tell his mind wasn't what it probably used to be - maybe because of being messed up emotionally and mentally in Vietnam, maybe because he was addicted to herione for a good number of years, maybe because he's a recovering alcoholic. He was completely sober at the time, though. We could smell no alcohol or detect any other sign of being messed up on something. He had greying hair, a full beard, and worn clothes. His eyes were kind, but there was a lot of pain behind them. He had a Star of David on his arm, which we later found out was because he was part Jewish. I'm glad he cleared that up for us, because he also had a cross around his neck, which seemed like a contradiction to me. He kept telling Chase to be brave while he was overseas. He told us stories of his younger years, growing up in the military and being a wild child. I took a seat on the curb and listened intently. Then, I was shocked to hear him start talking about the Holy Spirit and how He kept him safe. He said that in battle, the sound of bullets whizzing by your head is completely different when you're praying. I thought that was a profound statement coming from Earl. He also looked at us both and told Chase to cherish me while he's gone and for me to pray for him while he's gone. I think another reason it surprised me to hear Earl talk so religiously is because every other word out of his mouth was a cuss word, but he didn't seem to think a thing of it. I liked Earl. As I was looking up at Earl from the sidewalk, I realized that I'm going to be with this man in Heaven one day. This man is a child of God, just as I am. Jesus loves Earl just as much as He loves me. Wow. As the conversation came to an end, we shook hands and told each other we would be praying for the other, and Chase and I walked back to our warm car to go back to our warm home and eat our warm meal. I thought about how I was getting cold out there and couldn't wait to be in the comfort of our bed, and I thought about that fact that Earl may very well spend the rest of the night outside. He doesn't have a warm bed to come home to. It's funny how you set out thinking that you are going to bless someone else, and in turn they end up blessing you. God is funny like that.