My nose and an interesting night

The stitches are out! I had ten, and just got them out a few hours ago. Feels great. For ten days it has felt like someone is pulling on my skin, and it's nice to have that constant pressure gone. It'll also be nice not to hear any "Did you get in a bar fight?" jokes. They were funny at first, but I admit they've gotten a bit old. OK, a lot old. It looks like I'm going to have a bit of a scar, so I may get a few more of them as it continues to heal. Overall, though, it looks really good. You can hardly tell. Which is the point, after all.

It was a very interesting night last night with 7 Bridges to Recovery doing "A Day in the Streets." It started out with us being told that the group that when another group went out last Saturday there had been gunfire about ten feet away from them. In two months, we'd never heard of that before. At the first stop, we found out one of the homeless guys had been getting frisky when the women gave him hugs. Never heard that before either. At a later stop, one of the guys we were visiting thought that, given the bandage on my nose, it would be fun to pretend to punch me in the nose. It was harmless, and he was definitely joking, but having a drunk homeless guy pretend to punch you is not the greatest feeling. Especially because my reaction was to stand there like a deer in headlights. I'd like to think I'd have at least had the sense to flinch or something. That was new too. Then, at our final stop, someone ran over asking us to call 911 because someone was waving a pistol around nearby. That was something else that was new. But it was the final new thing that made me forget all the rest.

Someone came in last night. One of the homeless we've been visiting agreed to come to a shelter. That means more than just coming in to warm food and clean beds. At 7 Bridges, it means they are committing to following Jesus and ordering their life around him. She was committing to 'spiritual recovery' too, which is crucial for the homeless who are almost always addicts. And it was absolutely amazing. None of us who were doing it had ever been there when someone agreed to come in, and it was...great. Just great. To give food out is really neat. To share hugs and prayer is awesome. But to be there when someone comes in, that just takes the cake. Nothing can compare to that. Even the guns and the gross hugs and almost being punched in the nose (but not really).