My Friend Vicky

The very first time I met Vicky was outside our house and she was yelling at Marshall. He wouldn't give her a ride, but she wouldn't let him explain why and that I might be able to. She just lost it. I remember thinking as she stormed off without even giving me a chance to help her, "Phew, what a case!" That was our first impression of one another.

I remember after that seeing her out there, getting in and out of cars, sitting on the corner or walking the block. Some time later she stopped at a yard sale I was having. She liked a pocket book of mine, which I let her have. She asked me for a drink and so I gave her one. That's when our relationship began. She had heard on the street that if she was hungry she could come to our house and we would feed her, so that's what she started doing.

About 3 years ago she was done with the streets. She came to our church and camped out all day, waiting for a rehab to open. I remember Marshall calling me to ask if she could spend the night with us, so that she wouldn't have to walk the streets that night. At first my heart was resistant, this was inconvenient. But of course I said, "Sure." As we hung out that night, my heart grew for Vicky. She shared some of her story, I cried. We drank hot chocolate and watched a movie together. A few days later she got into the rehab and was doing well for months.

Then she went back to her old ways, she almost couldn't handle all the love. That really hurt and depressed me. My heart was hard towards her for a while, but she didn't even come by because she was so ashamed. She was in and out of jail and then got off the streets again for several months and then went back to it. At this point, my heart couldn't take it because I was diving through my own pain with a counselor, trying to find my own healing.

She always came back to our house. She would stop by for a cup of coffee or a hot meal. We would chat and then I'd pray for her. Then we would go back to our own lives. One week I remember she came by almost every day and asked for something. I remember feeling used and I was tired of her stopping by. But one afternoon I heard the knock. I almost didn't answer, but I asked the Lord to give me the grace to love her. When I opened the door, she said, "You've been so generous and loving towards me, I just wanted to give you something in return to say thanks." and she handed me a bag of blueberries she had picked. She turned around to leave and I asked her if she needed anything and she said, "No, I just wanted to bless you like you've done for me so many times." I choked out a thank you through my tears, she left and I stood holding the blueberries, asking God to forgive me for my hardened heart.

Now Vicky is in an apartment under a special program to get the chronically homeless off the streets. Over the past six months our relationship has changed tremendously. The Lord has truly loved her through me both during frustrating times and easy times. The more time I spend with her, the more I grow to love her. She used to be my "project," I wanted to save her from the streets. Through much failure in that I've realized I can't save her, but I can love her with the perfect, unconditional love of Christ. I can do that best by spending time with her.

Now we are doing a Bible Study together once a week, which always ends in tears. She calls me when I'm sick or the kids are sick to check in on us. Now I call her to see how she's doing with her daily struggles. It's a relationship, a friendship, it's community. God created us to be in communion with one another and to love each other. We laugh and joke, we cry and pray together. Yes, it takes some sacrifice, but really, I end up feeling more blessed by calling her a friend.

And you know, through the years, I've realized I'm no different than she is. Her sin may have more physical consequences, but I realize that our spiritual consequences are the same. I fall back into my "old person" on a daily basis. I find that if I don't "nip" it right away, then I'm back to my old patterns of dealing with life. She numbs out her pain and anger with drugs, I numb out with any number of things: cleaning, busyness, TV, food, exercise, shopping, relationships. All of it brings death if we're not allowing God to take up residence in our pain.

So, there you have it, my life has been changed by this friend. No matter what she does, I still love her and will always. I came across this quote in a book Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers that sums up my relationship with Vicky: " The way of Jesus is not a proposal for how to take over the nation (or person) and make it Christian. It is, rather, a lesson in learning not to take over-to be a community where we find a new way of life by giving ourselves for others."