Our friends Justin and Holly live just north of Boston. Their blog is currently posted with all sorts of snow storm updates and photos of frolicking in the winter landscape. But here in Florida, the standard of "cold" is much different. As I write, the temperature in Melbourne is 53 degrees, but the mercury is expected to "plummet" below 45 during the night. Compared to New England, this doesn't seem very cold, but to homeless Floridians with no food and no shelter, it's quite chilly. So tonight, the Cold Night Shelter, another one of His Place's gracious ministries to the poor, is open. There are probably about 75 people sleeping on mats and blankets throughout the church's fellowship hall and sunday school classrooms. They have already been fed a hot meal and will enjoy a good breakfast in the morning and leave as the sun rises with a packed lunch.
Lindsay and I have been looking forward to experiencing a Cold Night Shelter, but unfortunately we left Melbourne this afternoon to return to Orlando. After just a few hours away we already greatly miss our friends there. Our hearts are filled with both sadness to have left them, and gladness to know of the extravagant love pouring through them this evening.
We pray that as many step off the cold streets tonight to enter the warm embrace of His Place they will know and feel God's great love for them.
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