Recently I posted about the homeless/transient people I’m seeing here in Seattle. As I found myself wondering who the men and women living in this situation really are, I said a prayer. I asked God to provide safe opportunities for me to interact with some of these people. I asked Him to use me to do His will.

This morning I watched my Uber driver go right past me and my wait time changed from 2 minutes to 9 minutes. As I stood there on the sidewalk with 9 minutes to spare, a man approached me and asked if I could help him get some food. While I can’t say that food was what he was really looking for, I can say that it is not for me to determine.

I asked him if he would mind if I took his picture and wrote about him. He said that it would be ok so I took his picture and asked him a few questions. I got the feeling he didn’t care to share his story with me as he vaguely answered my questions. What I know is this. His name is David and he grew up in Yakima. He’s been in Seattle for “quite a while” and says he has no family. He didn’t care to say much more and was quick to take the couple of dollars I gave him.

I have no idea if our interaction had any affect on David but hope that, at the very least, a caring person showing him kindness and respect made his day a little bit brighter.