To Get Her Prescription Filled

Again I find myself at the top of Mount Tabor, watching the sun set and contemplating my day. Portland feels like a spiritual desert to me. Mount Tabor is the only place in this town where I feel a real sense of peace. It is easy to become discouraged in this environment, but the L-rd is my oasis and he keeps giving me water to refresh me. I got a call from a friend today. She called to tell me about the failing health of her grandfather, but she ended up sharing with me about something that Go-d spoke to her in her quiet time.

Throughout the scriptures, the L-rd calls people into the desert before he does something huge in their lives. The L-rd told her that I am in that time now, and that he has so much to show me while I am alone with him.

I would say that Portland is nothing at all like I expected, but honestly, I don’t know what I expected. The city definitely has a hippy vibe, but it is every bit as urban as any other city that I have been too. Scattered throughout the neighborhoods are pubs, coffee shops, and whole foods stores.

What amazes me the most about cities is the number of homeless people that I see everywhere that I go. Some cities hide them better than others do, but they are always there. I sat for an hour in Laurelhurst Park listening to a 7th day Adventist talk to me very fluently about the scriptures while doing a poor job of remembering whether or not he was homeless.

Another time, later in the day, I gave a homeless woman at an intersection some money. She proceeded to thank me profusely.

“I need $17 for painkillers for my back, and that brings me up to $5! Thank you!”