Homeless Homemakers

When you see a person “flying a sign” at an intersection, their homelessness is palpable: perched between lanes of speeding cars, out in all weather, they announce to any passer-by their need for help.⁠
+⁠
And yet, if you are privileged to receive an invitation to a homeless camp, you may be surprised to find so many signs of home-making. Makeshift kitchens where every tool has its place. Tents arranged carefully around a simple hearth-fire. Rules (spoken and unspoken) about what is and isn’t allowed. ⁠
+⁠
This photo is from early 2016. Steven and I, along with a few others, had been up since the wee hours of the morning, participating in a “point in time” count, which is a method cities often use to estimate how many men and women are experiencing homelessness in their area. ⁠
+⁠
I was struck by two things during this census. First, I was ashamed to see how much more cheerful the folks we met in the woods were than *I* would have been had someone come to my home at 5 in the morning. ⁠
+⁠
The second memory I carry from this day is the area rug you can see in this photo. Someone went to the trouble to rescue this rug from a dumpster and haul it deep into the urban woods. Its message was clear: this is a place someone cares about. A place of settledness. A place where a human person lives. ⁠
+⁠
I saw so much determination and hope in that rug. It was the first of many lessons that every creature made in God’s image is a home-maker, world-builder. That impulse can be frustrated, misdirected, and crippled, but it is hard–perhaps impossible–to destroy completely. ⁠

Faithfulness can change the world

People who are faithful to God’s call can change the world. Sometimes that faithful work means years of quiet, even solitary obedience. But sometimes it means actively welcoming others whose pilgrim journey is taking them in the same direction.⁠
+⁠
Last night our dear friends and mentors Alan and Tricia Graham stopped for dinner on their way out of town. The Grahams founded Mobile Loaves & Fishes (@mobileloaves) more than twenty years ago, and the work they have done for the homeless in Austin has inspired communities around the world.⁠
+⁠
More than a decade ago, their “yes” changed the life of my husband, who had been called by God to farm with the poor, and was looking for a home for that work. When Steven and I met and married a few years later, we began our life together at Community First! Village, the master-planned community for the chronically homeless. It’s not an understatement to say that our lives–our marriage–owe much to the faithfulness of the Grahams. ⁠
+⁠
As Steven and I prepare for a new season (sign up for our newsletter at the link in bio if you want to hear more about that), I’ve been thinking a lot about our days at the Village. The five years we spent there were homecoming, crisis, and pilgrimage all at once. It was the field in which I found a pearl of great price – a picture of what it means to meet Christ by welcoming those the world has rejected.⁠
+⁠
We’ve moved away from the Village two years ago, and I’m ready to start telling some of the stories from my time there. I’ll start a highlight that I’m calling “Hospitality on Mission” if you want to the find them all.⁠
+⁠
In the meantime, may you have the grace to be faithful today to the thing God has given you, no matter how small or hidden it might seem.⁠

Garlic Parmesan Pasta

Ingredients

  • 120ml (1/2 cup) butter
  • 2 tsp. dried basil, crushed
  • 2 tsp. lemon juice
  • 1 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
  • 3/4 tsp. seasoned salt
  • 220g (8 oz.) fettuccine or angel hair pasta (cooked and drained)
  • 360ml (1 1/2 cups) broccoli floweretts (cooked tender-crisp)
  • 3 Tbsp. walnuts (chopped )
  • fresh, grated Parmesan cheese

Procedure

  1. Melt the butter in a large skillet.
  2. Add the basil, lemon juice, garlic powder and seasoned salt, blending well.
  3. Add the fettuccine, broccoli, walnuts.
  4. Blend well and toss to coat the fettuccine.
  5. After tossing, add fresh grated Parmesan cheese to top off the dish.

This article uses material from the Wikibooks article “Cookbook:Garlic Parmesan Pasta“, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Guacamole

Ingredients

  • 4 avocados
  • 2 tablespoons of pico de gallo
  • Juice of 1/2 lime
  • 2 chopped Jalapeño OR 2 tablespoons of crushed red pepper OR 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 4 teaspoons of olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon of chopped garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
  • 1 minced jalapeño OR 2 minced serrano chiles OR 2 tablespoon minced of any chile pepper like (adjust for spiciness)

Procedure

  1. Pit the avocados.
  2. Score avocado without cutting through the skin.
  3. Scoop out one avocado with a large spoon and place in mixing bowl.
  4. Add the lime juice and stir to evenly coat the avocados.
  5. Stir in the Pico de Gallo, garlic, oil, jalapeño, salt, red pepper, and black pepper, mashing and tossing the avocado pieces until thoroughly mixed.
  6. Then scoop out the other avocados and gently mix and toss in the larger pieces.
  7. The guacamole is the right consistency when more large pieces than mashed parts remain.
  8. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro.

This article uses material from the Wikibooks article “Cookbook:Guacamole“, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon butter
  • 1 cup onion, chopped
  • 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 cup peeled and cubed sweet potato
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 14-oz cans of nonfat and low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable stock
  • 1 15-oz can of pumpkin
  • 1 cup 1% milk
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice

Procedure

  1. Melt butter in a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute onion for 3-4 minutes then add flour, curry, cumin and nutmeg and saute for 1 minute.
  2. Add sweet potato, salt, chicken broth and pumpkin and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered for about 20-25 minutes or until sweet potatoes are cooked through and softened. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes to cool.
  3. Place half of the pumpkin mixture in a blender and process until smooth. Using a strainer, pour soup back into pan. Repeat with rest of soup.
  4. Raise heat to medium then stir in milk and cook for 5 minutes or until soup is heated through.
  5. Remove from heat and add lime juice.

This article uses material from the Wikibooks article “Cookbook:Spiced Pumpkin Soup“, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.