Elisha You all have seen her. Standing on the street corner. Holding a sign. The signs may all be different but they all say the same thing. Homeless. Hungry. Please Help. She stands there day after day in the freezing cold living her life by the changing of the traffic signals and the people that pass through what by all means is her intersection. The problem is, most of us never see her.
I saw her. Today.
I was hungry, which is nothing new. I am always hungry. I have choices though, I have options. So as a person that has options, I excericised them. Burger King. Normal. Nothing new. On my way downtown headed towards her intersection. Driving along singing to myself (it's the only time that I sound good) munching on some fries and something turns my head, a girl, on the corner. "What is she doing there?" "She's got a sign." Heartbreak......she can't be more then 16. I drive through her intersection to the next light, and break the law. Illegal u-turn....small in the grand scheme of things I think. I pull up to her light and roll down my window, the reality of the cold strikes me hard.
"Here." I say, and hand her my food. "It's not much, it's what I have."
"Thanks" she says, her chilled face warming.
Horns honk and the light is green. I go. Another u-turn, this one legal. I drive through her intersection and look to see her sitting on the ground, eating like it's the last supper, like she hasn't eaten in days. More heartbreak, and then.......anger. The eternal question.....why? Why is SHE there? What has she done at that age to be standing on that corner, having to beg to eat? Why aren't I out there? Surely I have done worse things in life then this girl...so young, so innocent.
I'm mad. How does this happen? How can we do this? Our children are on the streets begging for food? Does this bother anyone else? We want so much and we have more then we can ever use. Some of us have nothing. Not even food.
Excuses are easy. "they did something to put themselves there" "I can't spare anything" "What can I do" "It's just a traffic light"
Most of you never see her.
Here's what you don't know.
Her name is Elisha, she's 15. She's diabetic. Her dad died 3 months ago, and her grandparents sold the house and didn't want her. She can't find her mom. She has a aunt in Louisana. All her worldy possessions were stolen (common among homeless people). She has the clothes on her back and her sign. Her sign which crys out, a cry which most of us never hear.
I talked to Elisha today, asked her what I could do. She didn't know. She cried, I cried. No one had ever reached out to her. It was too much. I went to lunch, not out of necessity but because I didn't know what else to do and needed to be alone. I sat down to eat and it started to snow. Hard. Elisha. Standing on the corner. With her sign. This is ridiculous. I paid and left. I am not going to let her stand out there in the snow, in the cold. I raced to her corner....it's empty. Where is she? Is she warm? I hope she's ok. lord hear my prayer......
"Lord God, be with Elisha, feed her, clothe her, she is one of your children. Look out for her and bless her life like you have each one of ours. Protect her from the weather and give her a warm place to stay. Put someone in her life to bring her joy. Bless her lord, for from you all good things come. Open our eyes lord, let us see her and reach out."
I drove away empty. Wishing that I could have done more. Something to else to help. Angry at the world for letting a young girl stand out there all alone.
Pray for her. Pray for all of us.
The next time you see her, reach out. You never know the joy that you can bring until you do.
8:57:39 PM 
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