The "Get Out Of Your Car!" Fund

Monday, September 9, 2013

Days 8 & 9 - The biggest blessing of being mobile homeless

I just completed one whole week living as a homeless person, though I admit my experience is drastically different from most homeless people's.

So, I was sitting around Sunday evening with nothing to do, and there were two hours before bedtime. I actually used the time productively. In a house, I would have watched television. In my car, I researched how to write children's books, then I washed clothes at the laundromat. On Monday I wrote an entire first draft for a children's book called The Copycats. After work, I began illustrating it. I finished half the book.

I was cleaning out my purse and looked in my Goals Notebook: a little notebook I used to write SMART goals in. I haven't used it in a while, but I did write something in it this summer. My goal was to have an organized room and get rid of enough belongings so that all of my stuff fits comfortably in my storage unit, including teaching supplies. I forgot about that goal, but God didn't.  I reached it without knowing it, all because of going homeless.

I was reading about how some people become homeless through eviction or foreclosure. They throw everything into the car at the last minute because they've been in denial that they were actually being thrown out. Everything is disorganized and in shambles, and I’m sure that what it looks like on the outside is also what they feel like on the inside.

I thank God that He saw this coming when I didn’t see it coming. Two years ago, He taught me how to organize things in my apartment into boxes and eliminate clutter. I didn’t master it, but what I learned sure helped when I moved from the apartment to the room at Uncle Theo's. I got even better at clutter-management when I lived at Uncle Theo's. When I moved into my car – that was efficiency and organization stretched to the max. I didn’t know that I would be moving into my car. I had one week to adjust to the idea while cleaning out an apartment and starting school ALL IN THE SAME WEEK. I thank God for preparing me for this moment. It feels good to know my things are organized during such an uncertain time in my life. 

Two years ago, God not only helped me organize my things, but also to organize my time and my planning processes. Those skills are coming in handy, too. I feel greater urgency to finish projects – board games and books. I can’t just sit around and be creative. I have to be PRODUCTIVE. This living situation might be the swift kick in the pants that I really need to move to the next step. I can’t share this excitement with people who know me, yet. but thanks for letting me share it with you, reader. 

No comments:

Post a Comment