Dear SoupFriends,
Greetings from the SoupMan.
Last week the Dallas area was hit by a record snowstorm. Many were calling it the storm of the century for this area of Texas. For Dallasites who rarely (if ever) see snowfall, this was an amazing weather event as more than 12 inches of snowfall rained down.
The Dallas area was literally turned into a winter wonderland. Schools closed, business's shuttered their doors, and people ventured out to play in the snow. Sledding, Snowman's and Snow Ball fights. But for some it wasn't all sugar and spice. Over 200,000 people lost their power. Many for a day or two and some up to five days. For most no power meant no heat. For long days and even longer nights people were huddled in their homes or apartments trying to stay warm. The fortunate ones had fireplaces, but even for them it was no picnic. With the night time temperatures dipping well below freezing it wasn't much fun going night after night with no heat.
Guess what? Even with no heat you are one of the lucky one. I know what you are thinking, 'hey SoupMan---have you gone off the deep end?' How can you call me lucky when I had to live in my house with no heat for days on end? The answer is simple. Imagine thousands of homeless men and women who had to survive the record snowstorm and freezing temperatures with no home whatsoever. Imagine as you sat huddled by your fireplace trying to get warm how you would fare if you were living outside in a cardboard box without any heat.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not making light of the fact that you had to live in your home with no heat for days. In fact I was one of the fortunate ones who did NOT lose his power. But I'm originally from Michigan and over the years we lost our power multiple times during the winter and let me tell you, losing your heat in a Michigan winter is not for the meek.
The point here is this. For those of us who have lost our power at one time or another and had to suffer days in a cold apartment or home, we got a 'small taste' of what the homeless go through on a daily bases every winter. And I think its a good taste. I think its okay to be reminded that homeless people out there are hurting. Good decent people whose lives have taken a turn for the worse. Good people who are suffering. Good people who need help.
So what can you do about it. Well as the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said:
"DO SOMETHING".
What 'something' you ask. Well you can volunteer with a local charity that services the homeless. If you don't have time to volunteer you could make a financial donation to the charity. If you don't have either time or money you could be in prayer for the homeless. Whichever it is---DO SOMETHING!
May the Lord Bless & Keep you all.
Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan
Executive Director---SoupMobile Inc.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
She Came to Serve!
Dear SoupFriends,
Greetings from the SoupMan!
At the December 2009 SoupMobile Christmas Angel Project I was privileged to meet well over 1,000 people. The list was endless. There was Tom Leppert--the Mayor of Dallas; a 'who's who of Dallas society; hundreds of volunteers; 500 homeless guests; TV reporters; Radio commentators; Dancers from the Debbie Allen Dance Studio and a whole host of invited attendees.
Good people with good hearts who share in my passion for reaching out to the ones Jesus called 'the least of these.' But there was one young lady who truly touched my heart in a powerful way. Her name was Kelley. I met her at the huge lunch time banquet we throw for the homeless on December 24th in the Hyatt Ballroom. She was there as a volunteer and was working by serving food to our homeless guests. That in itself was nice, but nothing unusual---we had hundreds of volunteer servers. What was unusual was that Kelley was in a wheelchair. I'm not sure what caused her to be in the wheelchair but I could tell by her fragile frame that she was dealing with a serious issue. I was instantly drawn to her. She had an amazing smile and I could see she had a kind heart. She wasn't wasting any time feeling sorry for herself---she came to serve!
During the banquet I asked her if she would be kind enough to allow our picture to be taken together. She graciously said yes. That picture now hangs proudly in my office over my desk. We live in a world where sometimes it seems difficult things happen to good people. Kelley didn't
have to be there 'Feeding HIS Sheep.' She could have said 'it's too hard', or 'I'm not strong enough' or 'why doesn't someone serve me.' None of those words or thoughts came from Kelley---she came to serve!
Once the banquet was over I lost track of Kelley. She disappeared into the huge crowd. That should have been the end of the story---it wasn't. Many hours later that evening I was walking the floors of the hotel checking to see if our overnight homeless guests needed anything. Guess who was sitting there at the end of the hallway on the 8th floor serving as floor monitor for our homeless guests. Yes, it was Kelley---fragile, sitting in her wheelchair and that kind smile beaming straight into my heart. She came to serve!
We often refer to our sports personalities as heroes. The quarterback who makes the winning pass in the Super Bowl, the basketball player who makes the shot at the buzzer in the championship game or the baseball player who hits the home run in the bottom of the 9th inning in the World Series. Heroes??? Not for me. I know who my hero is--- a young lady sitting in a wheelchair with a heart of gold. She came to serve!
May the Lord bless and keep you all.
Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan
Executive Director---SoupMobile Inc.
Greetings from the SoupMan!
At the December 2009 SoupMobile Christmas Angel Project I was privileged to meet well over 1,000 people. The list was endless. There was Tom Leppert--the Mayor of Dallas; a 'who's who of Dallas society; hundreds of volunteers; 500 homeless guests; TV reporters; Radio commentators; Dancers from the Debbie Allen Dance Studio and a whole host of invited attendees.
Good people with good hearts who share in my passion for reaching out to the ones Jesus called 'the least of these.' But there was one young lady who truly touched my heart in a powerful way. Her name was Kelley. I met her at the huge lunch time banquet we throw for the homeless on December 24th in the Hyatt Ballroom. She was there as a volunteer and was working by serving food to our homeless guests. That in itself was nice, but nothing unusual---we had hundreds of volunteer servers. What was unusual was that Kelley was in a wheelchair. I'm not sure what caused her to be in the wheelchair but I could tell by her fragile frame that she was dealing with a serious issue. I was instantly drawn to her. She had an amazing smile and I could see she had a kind heart. She wasn't wasting any time feeling sorry for herself---she came to serve!
During the banquet I asked her if she would be kind enough to allow our picture to be taken together. She graciously said yes. That picture now hangs proudly in my office over my desk. We live in a world where sometimes it seems difficult things happen to good people. Kelley didn't
have to be there 'Feeding HIS Sheep.' She could have said 'it's too hard', or 'I'm not strong enough' or 'why doesn't someone serve me.' None of those words or thoughts came from Kelley---she came to serve!Once the banquet was over I lost track of Kelley. She disappeared into the huge crowd. That should have been the end of the story---it wasn't. Many hours later that evening I was walking the floors of the hotel checking to see if our overnight homeless guests needed anything. Guess who was sitting there at the end of the hallway on the 8th floor serving as floor monitor for our homeless guests. Yes, it was Kelley---fragile, sitting in her wheelchair and that kind smile beaming straight into my heart. She came to serve!
We often refer to our sports personalities as heroes. The quarterback who makes the winning pass in the Super Bowl, the basketball player who makes the shot at the buzzer in the championship game or the baseball player who hits the home run in the bottom of the 9th inning in the World Series. Heroes??? Not for me. I know who my hero is--- a young lady sitting in a wheelchair with a heart of gold. She came to serve!
May the Lord bless and keep you all.
Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan
Executive Director---SoupMobile Inc.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
And Then Came Lon!!!
Dear SoupFriends,
Greetings from the SoupMan!
The SoupMobile started in 2003 on a wing and a lot of prayers. Over the last 6 1/2 years the Lord has sent us some wonderful people to serve on our staff. Each staff person that has come our way has been unique and different in their own special way. Each one bringing their own energy and talents to our mission of 'Feeding HIS Sheep.'
One of those people is a man by the name of Lon Ricker. He started volunteering with the SoupMobile back at the 2007 Christmas Angel Project. Then in June of 2009 he officially joined the SoupMobile staff. We immediately threw him into the deep end of the pool. Lon took on the title and tasks of; Director of Development, Chairman of the SoupMobile Advisory Board, and Chairman of the SoupMobile Christmas Angel Project.
And even though we threw him into the deep end of the pool he bobbed right up and started swimming. He not only brought a wealth of talents and expertise to the job, he brought a work ethic second to none. Most important he brought an amazing passion for reaching out to the ones Jesus called 'the least of these.'
This Blog is not so much about all that Lon has done for us (which is a lot), but more on the journey that God guided him on that brought him to our doors. I'm not going to try to describe that journey in my Blog because a news reporter by the name of Ruth Glover has done it superbly in a recent article about Lon in the EXAMINER PAPER. The Examiner is a major media company doing business in over 100 markets throughout the United States and Canada.
The title of the reporters article is: Software to Soup: a Dramatic Career Change. Its a story you don't want to miss. To read all about Lon's journey from Mr. Software Executive to I'm in the deep end of the pool at the SoupMobile, simple click the following link:
http://www.examiner.com/x-31872-Dallas-Career-Transition-Examiner~y2010m1d26-Software-to-soup-a-dramatic-career-change
p.s. You might find a little bit of yourself in Lon's story. And like Lon you too may find that happiness at the end of the rainbow.
May the Lord Bless and Keep you all.
Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan
Executive Director---SoupMobile Inc.
Greetings from the SoupMan!
The SoupMobile started in 2003 on a wing and a lot of prayers. Over the last 6 1/2 years the Lord has sent us some wonderful people to serve on our staff. Each staff person that has come our way has been unique and different in their own special way. Each one bringing their own energy and talents to our mission of 'Feeding HIS Sheep.'
One of those people is a man by the name of Lon Ricker. He started volunteering with the SoupMobile back at the 2007 Christmas Angel Project. Then in June of 2009 he officially joined the SoupMobile staff. We immediately threw him into the deep end of the pool. Lon took on the title and tasks of; Director of Development, Chairman of the SoupMobile Advisory Board, and Chairman of the SoupMobile Christmas Angel Project.
And even though we threw him into the deep end of the pool he bobbed right up and started swimming. He not only brought a wealth of talents and expertise to the job, he brought a work ethic second to none. Most important he brought an amazing passion for reaching out to the ones Jesus called 'the least of these.'
This Blog is not so much about all that Lon has done for us (which is a lot), but more on the journey that God guided him on that brought him to our doors. I'm not going to try to describe that journey in my Blog because a news reporter by the name of Ruth Glover has done it superbly in a recent article about Lon in the EXAMINER PAPER. The Examiner is a major media company doing business in over 100 markets throughout the United States and Canada.
The title of the reporters article is: Software to Soup: a Dramatic Career Change. Its a story you don't want to miss. To read all about Lon's journey from Mr. Software Executive to I'm in the deep end of the pool at the SoupMobile, simple click the following link:
http://www.examiner.com/x-31872-Dallas-Career-Transition-Examiner~y2010m1d26-Software-to-soup-a-dramatic-career-change
p.s. You might find a little bit of yourself in Lon's story. And like Lon you too may find that happiness at the end of the rainbow.
May the Lord Bless and Keep you all.
Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan
Executive Director---SoupMobile Inc.
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