Street cred

Andy attempted to grow some "street cred" for about a week and I must say, he looked like a burly mountain man. Thick, red, bushy streed cred. He figured he should start looking the part for our adventures on the road and it gave him an excuse not to shave. I actually thought it looked good on him however, kissing was fairly abrasive and I kind of flinched every time. So after my 4 days of complaining he finally gave in and plowed it down. Thanks babe!
This got me thinking about our journey that we are about to take.
Jen and I went downtown today to check out and meet some groups who are really reaching out to the homeless community. We visited Shepherd's Door (a Christ-centered women's facility/treatment center) and Sisters of the Road Cafe. We didn't actually get a chance to go inside Shepherd's Door but we talked with Maxine and we will be scheduling a time to tour the place and talk with some of the people there. Sisters of the Road cafe is amazing! They provide meals Mon-Fri for really cheap and offer bartering/work for food kind of deals. It is not faith-based but it totally meets the people at the ground level and offers A LOT of help, plus they just wrote a book that reveals many stories straight from the mouths of street folk.
Annnyways....as we walked around the streets of Portland talking with people and hanging out at Sister of the Road the reality sunk in a little bit more. The reality that this is not my reality. I have been living in suburbia for all my life and unless I was to dive into the street life, I will never fully understand. It is a raw, rough, mean and hard life out there, some areas worse than others. I am not raw, rough, mean or hard. I am rich, nice, pampered, and soft. Nothing about me comes from a life on the streets. I can go downtown everyday to serve, hang out, and love on people but I still have a safe, warm, beautiful home to come back to. I don't have to think about how to survive. And I have NO "street cred". I could grow my leg and armpit hair out or rat my hair into dreadlocks but the fact still remains that I am a suburban girl.
No, I'm not backing out of this whole RV adventure or anything like that, I am just being humbled a little bit more. I am seeing that our purpose on the road is to learn and soak it up like a dry sponge. To learn what it means to rely on Him, what it means to love, how to listen, how to live in community, and meeting new people all around the nation. I feel so blessed to actually have this amazing opportunity to do just this, but it also scares me to know that there are many more humbling moments. To know that there is truly nothing that I have to offer except Jesus who lives in my heart is hard to except but also incredibly freeing. I can be confident all through my life that no matter where God takes me I have something eternal to offer the people I meet. The only "street cred" I have is Jesus' reflection in me. He is everything to everyone; may I be a useful vessel for Him.