Homeless.

In less than nine hours, I will be homeless in the city for the weekend. No money, no car; just me, a backpack with a blanket and some snacks, and my classmates – maybe. I don’t know what to expect from Poverty Weekend, a period of 48 hours living in a homeless person’s shoes. Many students have gone before me, but Dr. Cook mandates that they only discuss their experiences with one another. To the rest of us, it is a big mystery.

To be perfectly honest, I’m a weird mixture of excited and terrified. Terrified because I’m dreading being out in the cold for hours (it’s supposed to drop below 50 tonight and tomorrow night), and I’m worried that I’ll somehow be separated from my friends who will also be on the weekend. I’m saddened that I’m missing a second weekend in a row on campus, unable to socialize or work on homework. But I’m excited because everyone who has experienced Poverty Weekend practically leaps out of their chair with excitement when they find out I’m going. Because everyone has told me it will change my life.

So here's to a weekend of joy and doubts. Of prayer and trials. Of God.

Psalm 121:7-8 “The LORD will keep you from all harm - He will watch over your life. Yahweh will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

A Day Without Shoes

It all started when someone invited Palmer Chinchen, author of True Religion, to speak in chapel at Cedarville University. Palmer is known for his compassion for the poor across the globe, and once hosted a "Barefoot Sunday" at his home church. On Barefoot Sunday, church members were encouraged to leave their shoes at the alter (to be given to those living in poverty with no shoes at all) and go the rest of the day without wearing shoes. Cedarville's current freshman class dreamed big, and held what was called Barefoot Thursday on the day that Palmer spoke - Spetember 8, 2011.

The goal of Barefoot Thursday is twofold. Firstly, to collect pairs of shoes for those in need. Secondly, to help those of us living in comfortable middle-class America empathize with the poverty-stricken population. Today was unusually cold and rainy (but it's Ohio - really, nothing is unusual), making it an inconvenient day to trek around campus barefoot. Along with many others, I made the decision to not only donate a few pairs of shoes that I knew I no longer needed, but spend the day without shoes.

The wet sidewalks were cold; and when your feet are cold, your whole body is cold. But at the end of the day, I had lost nothing from my day without shoes. Is going without shoes really that big of a deal? Maybe not for people who only spend a few minutes outside in the cold before going indoors to warm up. And shoes don't matter when you walk only on soft grass or smooth sidewalk. But soft grass, warm buildings, and clean sidewalks are also middle class luxuries. Imagine going a day without shoes in poverty-stricken Africa. Imagine having no shoes while you search for food or shelter amidst ground covered with trash or broken glass. Imagine that you have a cut on your foot with no antiseptics or bandages to help it heal. A day without shoes in poverty is different than a day without shoes in suburbia.

Cedarville students gave 3,276 pairs of shoes today. Thanks to the passion of a single college freshman with a bright idea, over three thousand people will receive a pair of shoes connected to the gospel message. Don't ever believe that you can't make a difference; you can. Just act.