I am constantly asking myself the question…Am I a servant, or a friend? Earlier this evening a resident from Joshua Station, the residential transitional housing facility for homeless families, called my wife in an excited state and said, “I’m moving close to you!” As my wife talked to her and shared in the excitement of a new friend moving into our neighborhood, I thought about the environment we work in where the question of servanthood and friendship lie in delicate balance for us.

On the one hand, we serve a population of impoverished adults in transition from homelessness to housing while on the other hand the line between professional and clientele are often blurred due to our love for their families, but more due to our shared need for love and support in this life.

Why do I serve God so radically?

Over the course of my life, many people have asked me this question. I honestly cannot understand what they see as being so radical. It seems to me that what I do is very simple, and really the only way I know how to live for God. Thinking about the why however leads me to my parents. I guess it was when my mom and dad came up with this crazy family idea where we would prepare a meal, then all go downtown and serve it to the homeless young people on the streets.

I've caught myself not wanting to update because I haven't had anything profound to say. I've also been procrastinating because it seems like there is so much to tell. So I decided to just share some of the stories I'm picking up on as I learn to love these gutter punks, oogles, and "disposable" members of Denver.

The names and images in these stories have been changed to protect the anonimity of the people in this post.