Homeless in Nashville

Today we were blessed to have my father-in-law come back to Nashville while working (he drives motor coaches all over the US and is here with a cheerleading group). We met him in downtown Nashville, went to lunch at Demo's (that's another post all together) and then walked over by the river.

What really shocked me today was the amount of homeless people that we saw, especially down by the river. As we walked down the steps to the side of the river there was a man in a three-piece suit bent over a pot of some sort, cooking eggs. There was another gentleman just laying back on his backpack with his shoes off just hanging out. There was another gentleman sleeping on a ledge leading down the the river and there were several groups of homeless individuals hanging out with each other. Everywhere we walked we saw more & more homeless people.

I'll be honest, I haven't had too much sympathy for the homeless in the past. I get frustrated when I see people standing on the side of the road with signs saying they will work for food and I just haven't understood how a person could let themselves get to the point where they thought that was a viable idea.

What it comes down to is that I don't know their story or how they got where they are. Regardless of what got them there, as Christ-followers we should do something to help them, to reach out and show them a God that loves them and cares for them.

Our church does something called Room in the Inn where they bring in several homeless men and feed them, wash their clothes, give them a haircut and a warm place to stay overnight. Our small group has taken part in that in the past and been blessed for it but I've just never seen the other side of it, where they live when they aren't being helped by the local churches/organizations.

We need to do more.