Drag Queens and Leukemia and Lonely People

I've lived in our neighborhood for about two and half years now. But even before we moved to Fort Worth, my husband and I would look online at homes in this area. It's an old part of town and one that offers what's known as *urban pioneers* the opportunity to buy an old home and restore her to her original beauty. "This Old House" is one of their favorite shows and yet somehow the fact that the only "crew" that shows up at their house is them doesn't seem to deter them. No matter how much remodeling has been done to a house around here - every one has a "To Do"  list taped up to the inside of some cabinet because you're never really done. ;) People who live here really love their city. Not because they wanted a home that didn't offer what I've decided to call "adventure"; but urban pioneers want to see things restored that others have given up on.

Near Southside, where we live, is a part of town that has seen it's ups and downs and mostly downs. Kids that go to TCU (a private university) are encouraged to not come to this part of town. I feel safe, but not so much because of the area - just Jesus. We have one of the higher crime rates in our city and I've gone outside, belly full of baby, to break up middle school gang activity. "Hey!! Don't break bottles in my street!" ;) The columns in our yard are tagged from time to time and homeless walk past the old mayors house that's across the street from ours.  My next door neighbors have their own IT business and work in the medical field, and a rapist lived two houses down and across the street last summer.

Living over here you see a great cross section of Cowtown. There are people on food stamps living on the same street as doctors and professors. And everyone in between. We are within a mile of all the downtown hospitals too. So about a year ago I was driving home with my kids when I saw a little girl the age of my then 5yo getting into a car with her mom. She was bald - the kind of bald that says "Cancer lives here." Because any parent cannot imagine having a child with cancer I knew that her mom and dad would want the prayers of anyone who would pray. In that brief 3 seconds that I saw her I began to carry her in my heart. I didn't know her name, but I did know how to pray. This is one type of the families that live around here - people hurting. People watching their children fight cancer.

About three blocks from my house is our local market, Fiesta. This part of town has a large Hispanic population. Because of this beautiful part of Texas - Mexico :) - we are offered a peek into another culture. And I love it. Fiesta is my favorite market - large families, good produce, low prices...my kind of place!

One day while I was checking out at Fiesta I heard the checker start to snicker and whisper loudly, "There she is!!! Right there!" to another checker. I turned around to see a man dressed in drag that I'd seen riding his bike down my street a few times. He was at least 6'2 with high heels, a long dress, no make up and a hair cut like a man. Lots of remarks were made as he walked by. He seemed immune to the comments. My heart broke. First, because I can't stand bullying and people who make fun of others ( I don't even like blonde jokes - FYI...;) and second because I wondered how many years this man had lived in a place of confusion. How many nights had he cried himself to sleep because he just couldn't be "normal". I started praying for this man and would see him from time to time over the next few years. Never got the chance to talk to him - his long legs move FAST and I usually have 3-4 other people with me that I'm trying to corral.

So - this weekend we had a garage sale at our house to raise money for our family to make the trek to Mongolia. I'd been praying it would be a good sale. We'd see what Jesus had in mind. That's the thing about prayer - so many times the answers remain invisible. That morning I woke up tired and really had to push my way through the whole day. About halfway through I looked up and saw him. The drag queen I'd seen so many times at Fiesta and sometimes riding his bike around our neighborhood.

I turned around because I thought I might start crying - I couldn't believe that God would allow me to meet this man and at my house no less. Joy!!!! He came up to me and said "Do you have any men's running shoes? Size 10? I wear a 12 in women's shoes, but I need some work shoes." I told him to stay right there and ran to find my husband and said "He's here! The guy I told you about...the drag queen!" You'd have to know my husband, but I think he exited the womb loving and pastoring people. He came out to the porch and started talking to this man in a long knit dress with black wedges and a Cowboy's ball cap on his head.

The man said "My given name is Randy, but my drag name is Lisa." Chris said "Ok, it's good to meet you. Where do you live?" They talked for awhile and I listened as best I could while I helped other shoppers. We didn't have any shoes that would work for Randy and I thought he would leave. But it seemed like he wanted to hang around. People are lonely. Did you know that? They want to be seen and heard and responded to.

Chris was showing someone else some bikes we had in the back. Randy came up to me and said "Bikes?? I need some bike parts, can I go look?" I saw that he had a lot of broken and black teeth - like people who use meth. "Sure!" I said as my 1 yo was holding onto my leg and wanting to go with his dad. I showed Randy the stairs and as he walked down them he stopped and turned to Asa, "Do you want some help getting down?" holding out his hand. Couldn't stop the tears as Asa reached for his hand. I wondered how many years it had been since innocence had touched Randy's - skin to skin. And the honor of my little one being able to minister to this man that Jesus gave his life for so that he could have life...too much for me.

Randy looked and didn't find the bike parts he needed so he handed me a card to the place where he works - a resale shop - and said good bye. Others came to look and buy including sweet folks from our church! One of those sweet folks is Lisa!! :) She and I sat on a couch we were trying to sell and chatted for a couple of hours about  things like decorating her first home to ending human trafficking. I love the culture I'm in - where these conversations can go together and not seem weird. Lisa and Joe are newly married and we LOVE them! And she listened to me as I told her about the other "Lisa" I'd been praying for for a few years and had just met.


While we talked I saw a little girl out of the corner of my eye. She was wearing a crocheted cap, pink cowgirl boots and a serious face. Something in my mommy heart said "This little girl *knows too much* about life." I watched as she looked at toys and bikes and saw that my husband was talking to her dad. She kept looking our way...I saw loneliness in her little eyes. People are lonely. Did you know that? They want to be seen and heard and responded to.

The little girl got closer and closer to where Lisa and I and my little girls were chatting on the couch. I said "Hi! What's your name?" She told me her name and something in me said "I know this face..." We invited her to come and play at our house whenever she wanted. I didn't know until after she left with her dad and I talked to Chris that this was the little girl I had seen getting into the car over a year ago. The little girl was in her second remission from leukemia. My heart knew her - I pray for her when I drive by her house. She spends her days at home where a tutor comes to teach her and then her other days with doctors and treatment.

As the little girl walked away Lisa and I prayed the kind of warring prayers that people pray that want to see the Kingdom touch earth - to make things right. The kind that say "You will not win this war! You will return EVERYTHING that is the Kings! EVERYTHING!!!!!!!" I love that. That's it's normal to pray with a friend on an old couch in your driveway. To fight and see Him do things like bring a drag queen and a little girl to your house that you've been praying for for a very long time. Those are sacred moments when He lets you see and touch the people He asks you to enter into this war over. To see them recognize a piece of their Savior in the touch of a baby or little girls wanting to play.

And so we wrapped up the sale, put all the leftovers into the garage. We made enough money for half of a ticket to Mongolia. I was exhausted, but my heart was full. Heaven had touched Earth in my yard. I love my neighborhood...every single lonely person in it.