The Verizon default tone alarm welcomed me to this morning at 6:00am. I floated to consciousness with a flood of images of our neighborhood and the people I've met in it. I was outside, peering through the metal, barred gate, looking over the abandoned, crack house next to our base to the mountains miles away. The sun climbed its way to the sky, eagerly stretching it's rays over the silhouettes with bursts of golden beams, setting the clouds ablaze with purples and pinks, and casting a royal sepia tone blanket over our impoverished, broken three square miles of Las Vegas's ghetto.
Flashes of faces, feelings of empathy, glimpses of prostitution, addiction, and broken love weaves itself throughout my mind and heart. After three hours of sleep, God summoned me awake to catch a glimpse of His heart for His beloved children in Vegas. I quickly threw on a sweater and went outside to watch the sunrise over the Nevada Mountains.
The sun lined the clouds with gold; people with bent bodies and jerky movements passed along the streets and in and out of the abandoned houses. The clouds deepened with rich colors; Men escorted women wearing mini skirts and tight clothing. The homeless huddle in their blankets next to their carts under and surrounding a bridge. My heart overflows with compassion. Oh God, You love these people so much! They are so precious and beautiful to You! Gah! I want them to know true love, trust, and friendship! The sun's beams spill over the mountaintops, my voice raises with praise and awesome wonder for the overwhelming beauty of God's heart and glory to be shed on this place and people.
I prayed over that abandoned building. The following week, there was a team of workers cleaning it out and fixing it up. Oh yeah! Lord, continue this sort of redemptive work through this neighborhood and in the lives of the people living in it. Amen!
