It started out as a pretty normal day.  Traffic was a bit light and I remembered it was Veteran’s Day.  I thought of those veterans living on the streets. Only 8% of the general population can claim veteran status, but nearly 20% of the homeless population are veterans.  We see a fair share of these veterans at Prodigal’s Home.

August 1, our first day being open, we saw 6 people.  We had more volunteers than people we were serving that day.

November 11, Veterans Day, a little over 100 days later, we had 30 people being served at the house.  It was pretty busy.

The day was wrapping up when Kim saw a car drive up and a man in a suit got out and was coming to the front door.  It was a “normie”.  A street word for a “normal person”.  Not a word we use but in any mission field you try to learn the language and this is one of the words used on the streets.

So in walks this man.  In a suit.  And wearing a U.S.S. Constellation cap.

It was Tim.  A man who had come to Prodigal’s Home about 2 months ago and whom we had not seen it a few weeks.  He came and took showers. He had his laundry done.  He made a few phone calls.  And he just hung out.  In a place of safety.  Of life.  Of hope.

He walked right up to Kim and I and said “I just came back to say Thank You”, ‘You’ll never know what it meant to be able to come and get a shower and do my laundry and just be treated with respect.”

We told him he was most welcome.  He’s living indoors and doing well.

We asked him about his U.S.S. Constellation ball cap.  Had he served in the U.S. Navy?

27 years, 2 months, 9 days was his response.

And he came in to thank us?

All we could do is say “Thank You” to Tim.  Thanks for his service and putting his life in harms way for us.  Giving a shower and doing his laundry seems the least we could do.

Driving home, traffic was “holiday light”, as it was in the morning.

My day started off thinking I was grateful for the light traffic.

It ended with me being grateful for TIm.

Thanks for supporting us and allowing us to serve those who have served us.