Redemption has to be Messy First

Redemption is one of my favorite words when it comes to describing what happens at the PARC. Redeem. Restore. Rebuild. Those are beautiful words, but in order for that to happen there has to be a mess. There has to be something to be redeemed from.

I often find myself not wanting to share the hard and messy things that happen here. I think that there is a little bit in me that wants to protect our members. I want to respect them, but I also don't want others to get a bad opinion of them because they don't know them. We love to tell the stories of redemption, the stories of 'success'. Yes, bad things do happen here. It gets really messy sometimes. Words I thought I would never hear are yelled at me. Anger is shown and sometimes damage is done. Oftentimes someone will say, "What happened?" My answer is, "They are just angry." The truth is that they aren't angry at me, even though it might sound like it. They are just angry. They are hurt, scared and desperate, and it is often not very pretty. It is often very ugly.

We have discussed often about how hard it is to tell these sides of the story because most people won't 'get it'. It is hard to explain, but should we try? Should we let people know about those hard and ugly things because that is when we can truly appreciate the beautiful? When someone walks in our door and apologizes and asks if they can stay and try one more time. When someone says 'please' or 'thank you'. When they come in with fresh clothes or a shower. When a member works hard to mind their manners, watch their language and leave when they feel their anger start to bubble up. We see redemption taking place one step at at time. We have seen the ugly. We stand in the middle of the ugly and as peacefully and respectfully as possible get them out the door and tell them to come again and try another day. Then when they come back we start over. THAT is how we see redemption. We stand in the middle of the ugly and then accept them, love them and begin again.

I love the PARC. I love those that come. God gives me the wonderful honor of seeing them for who they truly are. So, when the ugly begins to come out we get to love them, accept them and watch redemption over and over and over.