Staff Writer - Carol Cato
Bang! Bang! A familiar sound that Rose woke to. Another person dodging a bullet, she thought, or another life cut short. For the last three years, Rose had been living on the streets of Los Angeles, in Cardboard City.
Each morning the cops would move them along or the street cleaners would be out with their hot water sprays, if you didn’t move on in time your belongs would be wet or destroyed. It was the City’s way of ridding the streets of vagrants, the cleaners would come and spray twice each night and again in the morning.
Rose would find her usual spot by the subway, where she would plead with commuters for just enough money for a cup of coffee, sometimes she would get enough to pay for a shower. She has not been that fortunate for a while, in winter people hurry past to get out of the cold. It’s been a while since Rose had a hot shower.
As the commuters hurried by, she thought about when she was a high flying professional; she had a Degree in Engineering and had worked her way up from trainee engineer into management. She had no children, she was going places and they didn’t fit into her life. She owned a few homes in LA and dating some of the finest men but was never ready to settle down. At 30 she was enjoying the good life.
Many times Rose would pass vagrants on the streets and wonder why anyone would want to live like this. Never in her wildest dreams would she imagine this could be her life – but now it was. Rose had remortgaged on one of her homes to invest into more property just as the market crashed.
Photo courtesy paletteandcanvas.blogspot.com
She soon had to sell her homes to pay off debts, then things got out of hand and the bank foreclosed on her last property; finally she had no option but to file for bankruptcy. Rose watched her life spiral downwards out of control, ending up homeless on the streets of LA with no-one to turn to.
It was a bad day for Rose, she going through her monthly cycle but had no money for towels, she was using old ragged cloths she found on the streets and was in a lot of pain. She had not eaten all day. With the stomach cramps she was unable to walk much and couldn’t make it back to her usual sleeping place. Rose had enough, she was cold and hungry.
Rose found herself thinking about God, she was never interested in religion although she knew about Jesus, and wondered how he could help her. Tonight was different, she needed help right now. Rose cried out,
“Jesus, you said if I called you, you will answer. I need you now. Please help me, if you just take this pain away or even give me a bed for the night. I promise I will give my life to you.” Rose had not cried like this in years, but she had come to the end of the road, she eventually cried herself to sleep.
Rose woke just as she was being hot sprayed, she was soaked. Distraught, she shouted
“Where are you now God? I called out for you and things have got worse,” as she shouted at God she put her blanket into the bag she had been carrying around for the past 3 years. As she walked away in the damp clothes, she headed towards a washroom nearby.
Rose knew she had to pay to use the washroom but hoped a kind stranger would take pity on her. Rose was lucky, she approached the woman at the entrance and explained she had no money and that she needed to clean up after the soaking. The woman said “that’s ok love, go in, you can pay me next time”.
Rose was relieved; it was the first time in ages that someone was nice to her. After showering and drying the excess moisture off her clothes, she felt better. Before leaving the washroom, she went to thank the washroom attendant. She was surprised when the attendant pushed $10 note in her hand. Rose burst into tears.
The woman’s name was Donna, she spoke to her and told her that her church ran a homeless shelter, she could have a bed for the night but she has to arrive at 8pm each night. At that point Rose realised that God did answer her prayers, he had sent her an angel.
Rose made her way to the church hall for 8pm. She was welcomed by friendly volunteers and got a cooked meal and a bed for the night. Rose became a regular at the shelter; she would get up before the other vagrants and help out in the kitchen, preparing for breakfast.
One particular morning Donna came in; Rose hadn’t seen her since that day at the washrooms. They got talking as they laid out the cutlery, Donna was interested in hearing Rose’s story and they talked about her losing her job and home. Donna wanted to know why Rose hadn’t tried to get herself another job.
Rose explained that depression set in and next thing she found herself homeless. Now she did not have suitable clothes for interviews, no contact number and address she was unable to apply for jobs. Donna asked what size clothes she wore, then went away and returned after 30 minutes carrying a smart work suit.
She explained that the church folks donated clothes to help the homeless to go on interviews. Donna was a good Christian woman. Rose thanked Donna and told her about the prayer to God at her lowest point and “now 4 months later you are here again giving me a suit for an interview”.
They prayed together. Donna offered to return the following day with her laptop so that they could start looking for jobs, and she would allow Rose to use her address for correspondence.
Within a few months Rose had found a job, she was also regularly attending Donna’s church and her God became Rose’s God. Rose realised that in her old life she had worshipped money, but she loved her new life in which she loved God. Rose was now on the right track; she found a job and was able to rent a small flat. She also became manager at the homeless shelter.
Rose remembered her promise and it wasn’t long before Rose gave her life to God.
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