On the train ride down to Chicago, Emma did AMAZING! We were visiting some of Jess' cousins, Aunt Sue, Grandma, Grandma Gracie. It was such a great trip and great hang out time. I hope we can do it again soon! We now know Emma loves riding on the train and can handle Chicago with the best of them! The city was buzzing with pre-holiday busyness. There were lines of people in the theatre district catching off-broadway shows. The shopping was intense, even in October with the anticipation of the holiday rush. But amidst all of the interesting sights and sounds there sat Jim, wedged between a garbage can and Newspaper machine holding a sign which read, "Food, money, anything would help". We all stood there conveniently ignoring him waiting for the light to change. As we crossed I was immediately troubled by what I saw and needed to go back and talk to this guy. Jess and her family went ahead into a store and I ventured back down the block and cross the street. Much to this guys surprised I sat down right next to him and asked him his name, "Jim!" he replied and I shook his hand realizing that he could not have been more than a year or two older than me. I gave him a snack pack of cheese and crackers from my backpack along with two bucks and just asked him a bit about himself. He shared how he'd been a heroin addict in his early teen years which ended in the streets. A year ago he got help through a shelter and was placed in a rehab program which put him on methadone. Jim was no longer enslaved to heroin but the methadone treatment left him just short of comatose. He can't work because of the drug, his family won't have anything to do with him because of his past and I couldn't help but wonder about his future. As people gathered on the corner waiting to cross, you could see their pity and irritation at the sight of some bum. Ten minutes earlier I was one of them, but now I was sitting next to that bum, his name is Jim, and I felt their stares, and if only for a moment, I had a sense of Jim's daily struggle. I know my 15 minutes with Jim probably had little affect on him or his situation but it has had a continuous impact on me. Jesus loves Jim a lot! He loves Jim as much as He loves me! Do I love Jim as much as Jesus? Do you? What are we doing about it? 
