Silver lining

I have witnessed some pretty intense things over the past week at work...one of the sweetest participants I know was taken to jail because he couldn't pay his child support (how can he?!).
Two huge sheriffs came in and took him away in handcuffs, which completely broke my heart.

There was a fight that broke out later that day which resulted in another really nice guy getting hurt from a suspended participant.

I am hearing more and more about the life stories of people and how they ended up where they are today. Fascinating (to use Diana's word), and heartbreaking at the same time.

In the midst of all of these things that distress me, though, something really remarkable happened today. We serve lunch at the Campus on Thursdays to over 140 people each week. Everyone needs a ticket to eat, though, and by 10:30, they were already gone. A man walked up to me at the support desk asking about a ticket, and I had to tell him that we were out. As the man was about to walk out the door out of luck, John, another participant, called out to him to get his attention. "Here you go, man," John said to the complete stranger, and handed him his own lunch ticket without a second thought. It was a moment of God's light shining in the darkness, always when I least expect it.