So I thought I would drop a quick line in about my Valentines Day...

I don't have a load to say but I did manage to have a chat with a homeless guy who was sitting outside a Sainsburys. 

I asked him if he was alright and if there was anything that I could get him and he just said 'something hot'.  OK - that left me with a plethora of options ranging from a cup of coffee to a hot water bottle.. (but of course I was not really going to offer him a hot water bottle! Or should I have done?....I don't know!)

Well he later said that he would like something hot to eat and I offered to take him to a cafe/kebab shop/chippie (it was late) and get him whatever he'd like.  He opted for chips and nothing else.

I walked away and wondered why he had not taken up my offer of coming with me to sit in  and have his meal and then I noticed...
He had a pair of crutches lying by his side!  This brought something to my attention...

I realised how blind I had become to some the despair and pain and struggles of life around me, aropund us all.  I hate to admit it but that was the reality.  I had not noticed his crutches at all.  How could it be that I had just had a conversation with this man, but didn't notice that about him?

To cut a long story short I got him the chips he had asked for and walked away.  I only took a few steps away and had to turn back.  I had this overwhelming need to make sure that he was going to be alright for the night.  I could not physically walk away without knowing that, for at least tonight, he would be alright.  
He said that he was going to a hostel nearby. 

He was eating his chips and said 'thanks, God bless you' to me.  Surely I should have said 'God bless' to him first?  I did say it but only in parting.  It was followed by one of those moments when I knew then that the conversation was over and it was time for me to let him be.

What would I have done if he had not had anywhere to go?  That's what I asked myself when I was walking away.  In hindsight I know that I would probably tried to ring a friend of mine who has a lot of shelter contact addresses and tried to get him somewhere for the night (were it a Wednesday SPOS may have been an idea but he was not in the same area so how would he have got back from there the next day?).

I also realise that if that had failed I may have paid for a single night in one of the B&B's in the area...?  I don't know.  A ll I know is that I could not leave having met half his needs (hunger) and ignored the rest! I just really felt I needed to be sure that he was ok!

What do I hope to have taken away from my V-Day this year?

To begin to see Jesus in everyone I meet.  To try to shy away from the tendency of a generation that is about image, outward perception and success.  It is not an easy thing but, for now, I can try.

The thing is, 3 months from now, will I look back and still be impacted by how I felt on the 14th? 

I hope so.  I really really hope so.