Who Is Evelyn
Sometimes random things happen that change everything in your life. An event so large in size that you can’t simply look past it or continue living the same way afterwards. It literally shakes the very core of who you are. Whatever direction you thought you might be headed in prior to this moment is no longer an option, because this moment shook you off whatever path you were on and directed you in a new one.
Below the bridge you see in the picture above is where that event happened in my life. On April 12th, 2005.
Somehow I had managed to snag myself a hot date that night with a nice lady named Marjorie. My romantic mind decided that a nice walk by the river and dinner downtown would ensure my place in her life as a cool guy. As the date was winding down, I walked her to the car outside the restaurant. While I was opening the door for her, a couple approached us.
As they approached, I could immediately tell they were a homeless couple. Both had on beat up clothing, smeared in grease and dirt. Holes in odd places and pants that were a little bit too short. Shoes with no toes. Hair matted tightly to their heads. A strange odor. Most of all I could tell from their eyes.
Growing up, I always had heard about homeless people. A vast majority of what I heard was completely negative. You’ve probably heard the same things. They are addicts. They are liars. They will hurt you. They are to blame for whatever happened to them. Don’t give them any money. Don’t give them rides. They are homeless because they gambled too much. Drank too much. Went to jail too often. The list goes on and on. Somehow people who live on the street aren’t even really considered people, are they? So these are all the thoughts I had running through my head as the couple approached me and my date. I was a young youth pastor at the time, but I never had time to think about homeless people or what it meant to love people like that.
Stepping closer to us, I tried to simply shut Marjorie’s door and pretend like I did not see them. That’s when they called out to me.
Her name was Evelyn.
His name was Lee.
We talked for hours that night under the bridge. About all sorts of things. It’s not our conversation I remember the most though. It was Evelyn. The way she smiled at us. The way she hugged us. The she spoke to us. Everything about her was love. She loved me, and there wasn’t any doubt in my mind about it. Being in her presence was like being in the presence of a loving grandmother. The greatest loving grandmother of all time. Lee was an amazing man as well. He gave me tips on how to keep Marjorie forever (Marjorie is now my wife). There was something unexplainable and indescribable about Evelyn and Lee. Something so pure and loving.
As the conversation ended, they asked if they could pray for us. Under the bridge they prayed for us. I gave them money for a hotel that night.
My heart was broken.
I wanted to do so much more for them. I was mad at the fact that they had to live that life of homelessness, wondering around searching for a drop of water and a bite of food in the garbage cans. It made me angry when they told me other people passed them as if they didn’t even exist. Lee said that people had thrown bottles at them and called them racial names. A few days later I ended up seeing Lee on the side of the road in downtown Shreveport, crying.
Evelyn and Lee changed my life. They changed the direction of my life. If I could ever meet them again, I would say thank you. I would invite them into my home to live with me. And I would cook for them everyday. We would laugh together and watch movies and we would all live life together.
I love Evelyn, and I love Lee.
And I will spend the rest of my life loving people just like them. The homeless. The poverty stricken, the thirsty and hungry, the naked, the hurt and confused. Not because it is my obligation, but because love is the only thing that makes sense to me.
