February Love - Street Angels

I spent a night in February volunteering with the Street Angels. I do this once a month (though, like many things, have never blogged about it), going out 10pm-3am on the streets of York dressed in bright orange jackets (which are pretty synonymous to a Postman’s attire) helping where help is needed – giving girls flipflops when they’re walking round with their epically-heeled shoes in hand, giving bottled water, providing directions, chatting to upset / angry / hysterical people, etc. A job that doesn’t feel too rewarding sometimes, especially if it’s a quiet night. But you always bump into some tipsy, hyper person who runs up to you shouting ‘Street Angels! You helped my friend last week!’ or ‘Hey! You guys waited with me for a taxi the other week!’, or other similar affirmative things. It can feel sometimes that we don’t make much of an impact, but I think that’s because in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t have much of an impact upon our day-to-day lives.

We are all Christians, and although we don’t explicitly tell people that (nor do we shy away from our faith), it shines through in what we do. I think, sometimes, as Christians, we forget how hard it is to love, or because we always have the unchanging love of Jesus, we sometimes forget what its like to not have that – we take for granted what its like to be in a position where we don’t know if someone loves us that day because we are always loved, and we know God is constantly with us. But when we show even just a little of that to someone who has had a hard day, or who is so drunk that they’ve been left by their friends to find their own way home because the friends want to carry on their night out, or a girl who is feeling vulnerable, or whatever the reason – the potentially tiny impact that that has on you, maybe holds real weight for the person you’re helping. Because maybe they have been so hurt by so many people that they’ve forgotten what it’s like to be loved and cared for, or you’re the first person to actually stop and give them directions because they’re so lost – probably in more ways than one.

I think we could all be showing people a little more love. I was stood on Stonegate today waiting for a friend, when I overheard a conversation between a couple that suggested they thought they were on the Shambles. After stifling a little giggle, I turned round and helpfully pointed them in the direction of their desired location.
Im not saying we should be giving all the tourists directions because that would just be incredibly frustrating. Im just suggesting that we could probably all be investing into others. If I invested an extra minute into a passing conversation, friendships would develop a lot quicker and deeper. If I sent more letters to my friends or texted something encouraging or bought my coffee date their Starbucks for them, there would be a lot more love and a lot more blessing going on. I know how touched I feel when someone buys me a coffee, or how blessed I feel if I get some personal post, or how loved I feel if someone asks me how I am, and they genuinely mean it. I just need to be giving it out a little more, I think. And I know I try to do these, I just need to be trying harder and motvating myself to do it. But ‘Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another’ (1 John 4:11), then that should be all the motivation that we need.

[PS - Favourite Quote of the night from Street Angels… a slightly tipsy man walking behind us is reading the writing on the back of our jackets and says “What’s a ‘Street Angle?’” LOVED it :) ]