The Face I Keep Seeing

Having had mostly guy friends as a youth, I'm blessed to have developed some great friendships with females at my church home now. I have a few ladies that I really enjoy spending time with. One of which is my friend, Amy. After spending pretty much the entire day together on Saturday, Amy & I headed to the Bread Co. to chat on Saturday evening. While we were there, I looked out the window to see a man wearing several coats, carrying a few bags & he looked a little worn. I continued to look (stare really) at him. Eventually, Amy asked what was wrong. I told her I was looking at the man outside. She then looked to see & asked if perhaps he was homeless or something. I had been thinking such was probably the case. After a few minutes, he entered into the place. He got nothing more than a cup of water, put a lid on it & walked out carrying all of his belongings with him. Amy & I were at Bread Co. for a total of about 4 hours & I'm sure we were there a good hour + after this happened. For the rest of our time there, I kept thinking about that man. I told Amy that I doubted I would be able to get him off of my mind. I should have gotten up out of my seat & offered to buy him a meal. I didn't. I'm sickened with myself for seeing a need & doing absolutely nothing about it. Long after I got home, the situation weighed heavily on me--still is even though it's days later. I'm not sure why I did not move to help. I've worked with homeless individuals on several occasions & those times have been some of the most memorable, cherished times of ministry for me. Yes, I realize there are some people that are in that position because they refuse to work & they are just lazy. However, I know there are also a great many that have been left out in the cold after exhausting every last dime after trying to help a dying loved one out. They are in that state due to job loss. Many different reasons why but they are not all the stereotypical lazy bum. I am filled with compassion when I see someone out on the streets. I want to rush to help. I have a love for them. Has this always been the case? No, for sure not. Before I spent time with them myself, I had the same ideas about them that the majority of the world does. Now, I can hardly handle seeing them in such a state. Our family visited Seattle, WA in 2006 for vacation & I had an extremely hard time there as I saw many homeless persons. As we walked around, I kept a stash of snacks in my backpack. I deeply desired to share my food with them. My dad, however, kept me from doing so because of the fact that I did not have enough for everybody & since I did not, he was fearful that the lack of food for everyone could cause a problem. As I had to just pass them by, I fought the tears because I felt for them. My heart was saddened by what I was seeing. Again, I'm not sure why I did nothing Saturday night..not when it would have been so easy to help. I only know that I'm praying that next time, when given the opportunity, I will be Christ to that man, woman, boy or girl.