Week 28 – Walking in the shoes of the homeless and unemployed

11:04am

When I awoke this morning, God immediately had me to pack the rest of my things. He instructed me to leave out a change of clothes; pack the rest. I tossed more clothes, too. Now, I am literally down to my suit, a pair of dress pants and jacket, a pair of casual pants, three summer shirts, three lightweight sweaters, three tank tops, my leather jacket, rain coat, Gortex shell jacket, a pair of dress boots, rain boots, patent leather pumps, flip-flops, and undergarments. Everything else is gone. Gone are the sneakers Mom sent that I bought in Mexico during that time of drama. Gone are my dressy/casual walking shoes which have carried me all over Newport and Providence. Basically, just about everything that I came here with at the start of this journey or that I acquired here to sustain me is gone—down to the hangers, cleaning and laundry supplies, my new bedding (egg crate, sheets, pillow, bedspread), and my new exfoliating bath gloves. Gone! It cannot go forward with me or rather I cannot move forward with it.

And the cleaning. After packing and tossing, God had me to clean the room from top to bottom. I cleaned out all cabinets including shelves, doors, and handles. I cleaned out the refrigerator which was simple since I only have one and half bags of frozen vegetables in there, a corner of salad dressing, and half a container of cream cheese. I scrubbed down the shelves in the room and in the bathroom. I performed my customary hand-scrubbing of the floor since I never had a spare $2 to buy a mop.

I felt like I suddenly walked into a Jason Bourne movie, and we had to wipe the place down. In that moment, God spoke to me: “In a sense, that is exactly what you are doing. You are cleaning the place of your energy. Leave no trace of “you” behind. It is to set the space for the next tenant, yes, but it is primarily to clean your energetic space to move on. If there is a trace left behind, you will see things manifesting in your life that will pull you back. I will not allow that to happen. Thus, I am instructing you as such. After you finish cleaning, pack up your laptop and monitor and go sign a 30-day vacate notice at the office. Be ready so that you don’t have to get ready.”

With that said, I should hop to it.

1:17pm

OMG. A staff person saw me putting out all of my things in the lounge area. By the time I made it downstairs to the office, everyone else already knew.

“Sapphire, are you moving?” the front office manager asked.

“Sapphire, I need to speak with you,” the executive director beckoned with her finger curling for me to come her direction. “You will receive notice that your unit was randomly selected for inspection on May 16. You don’t have to be there. Just make sure that it is meticulously cleaned.”

I just stared her, not so much in disbelief, but still with an OMG attitude. “It’s already done and cleaned out,” I replied, thinking honey, God is twelve steps ahead of you.

“Perfect.”

I signed the vacate notice and put May 23, 2011 as my move out like God instructed.

This is why I follow God’s directives to the letter without hesitation. I didn’t know why He told me to scrub the place down this morning, but He knew.  I am very grateful that I have had a place to sleep throughout this 28-week journey. But I would be remiss if I did not express the profound joy I feel knowing that I finally be out of there and completely separated from the system. All of their actions that I cannot understand are precisely why the Bill of Rights for the Homeless must be passed. I will continue to follow God as He leads me on the movement to ensure that happens.

Opportunity to Celebrate

Obviously, we should all celebrate the roof over our heads and the nourishment we receive no matter how it is viewed by economic or social standards. Yet, how can you “celebrate” blessings if you are homeless, hungry, unemployed, and cannot provide for your family? How, as a citizen or community leader, have you honored the value in all individuals regardless of their economic status or living situation? I celebrate by giving praise to God for providing for my needs and then sharing that praise with others as I do with this blog.

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