I go to the Starbucks/Noah's on Lakeshore at least once a week on my way to work. I've been trying to be good and make my own coffee at home. Well, being really good would be to stop drinking coffee. But, I digress.

For a while, I was going to Starbucks every day because I'd run out of coffee at home. There's this homeless guy who sits outside. I bought him a cup of coffee this morning and talked to him for a little bit. His name is Richard. He was telling me how cold it was last night. He couldn't get a bed in a shelter last night, so he had to sleep in the doorway to a shop in Chinatown. He has a little girl that he hasn't seen in 4 years. He doesn't even know where she is anymore.

Richard is such a gentle, tender man. We were talking about two feet from a garbage can. A lady walked out of Starbucks and was trying to throw her sugar packets away. Unknowingly, one of them missed and landed on the ground. Richard walked over, picked it up, and through it away.

I'm not gonna say that I learned some major lesson or anything. (I think there's sometimes this mentality that interacting with the homeless/poor will lead to some great epiphanies(!) about life. God uses these interactions as well as interactions with any Joe Shmoe to teach us lessons big and small). I just treasured this interaction. I was, however, just really struck by his honesty, frankness, and warmth. I am encouraged.

***end "real" stuff here.

Happy birthday to Justin Timberlake, who is 21 today.

hahahaha. I amuse myself.