"God blesses me when I sleep in church..."

That is what is printed on the back of the T-shirts some of the people who are involved in the VIP program wear. The VIP, that I think I have written about already, is the community wide opportunity many churches here in town have gotten involved in that serves homeless families. There is practically no place in town that will take in families with children of different genders, as well as families with both parents: simply not allowed to all stay together, for obvious reasons. This program provides housing through about a dozen churches that allow these carefully screened families to live in various locations for a week at the time. The churches provide space for the cots that are transported from one facility to the next on Sunday afternoons, and members of each church provide meals, fellowship and support for the families during the week that the family is in residence.

I'd signed up to go to sleep in church on Thursday night, with a co-hort/volunteer I recruited, as there is always supposed to be two members of the home church on hand should some medical emergency arise. But I got a call from the person who is coordinating the program about eight o'clock last night saying: where are you? I replied that I thought I was 'on' for Thursday, and she assured  me I was mistaken. So I said 'Ill be right there', brushed my teeth, grabbed up my sleeping bag and book and dashed off to church.

As it turned out: I was right. But did not have any problem with being the one to jump in the gap, and was glad that when she called I was completely available to dash off and spend the night on the cot in the Sunday School classroom. I read myself to sleep, and left there about 7:00 this morning. The VIP program coordinator called me  mind-morning, apologizing, and agreed that the mistake was hers - but I was so thankful that I: 1.)answered the phone no on is ever at home to answer, and 2.) had nothing else pressing. (Though I had just requested a program on tv I though I wanted to watch, for the first time in about four years: Call the Midwife on GPTV, imported from the BBC. This is what too much public radio will do to you.) I told her I did not mind at all going, and being there, to fill in when needed, and she did not need to apologize: I would just need her help counting all those stars I would have have in my crown!