Under the Jefferson Street Bridge

Volunteers unload a truck & set up a make-shift food pantry.

Every Tuesday at 5:30, a group of volunteers assembles beneath the Jefferson Street Bridge.

As volunteers arrive, they check in and receive colored arm bands telling them where they'll be serving for the next two hours.

Trucks wait, jammed with chairs, food, clothes... And within 30 minutes what once was the space beneath an overpass is transformed into a place of worship, The Bridge Ministry.

At 6 pm, live gospel music echoes against the concrete as somewhere between 500 & 600 homeless men, women and children line up to receive a hot meal & something to drink. People serving on the hospitality team carry plates of food and help the guests get settled in their seats. Most carry everything they own with them and it is the only hot meal they'll eat all week.

500+ homeless & volunteers worshiping together

Once everyone is served and seated, the music subsides & worship begins. The pastor delivers a message of hope, acceptance & love... prayers for safety, jobs & a warm place to sleep. A team of volunteers line up along the makeshift worship area to help people pray. Many of the homeless make their way to them and pray with them. There are no words to really describe this experience. It's moving to say the least.

As the service ends, attendees file to the back of the worship area and form lines to receive food for the week from the makeshift "food pantry". From there, they pick up blankets, socks, underwear & toiletries.

In a little more than two hours, they've worshiped, eaten and gotten sustenance / necessities many of us take for granted.

And, what they may not realize, is getting to serve them is just as much of a blessing to those serving them as it is to those being served.

Consider Volunteering:
The cold of winter is not far away from these crisp fall nights.

And, winter is usually when these friends need us most. It's also a more challenging time to find volunteers.

Please consider giving your time, once a month, twice a month, weekly... To those who desperately need it. It's their opportunity, if even for a couple hours, to feel somewhat normal. And, in serving, you'll receive more than you can comprehend.

Find out more: The Bridge Ministry
If you're not sure you want to go it alone, join a group of Cross Point Nashville Campus volunteers who assemble every Tuesday at 5 at the church gym to caravan over and serve together.

Be Who You Are

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. 

For some of us, this can be frightening. What would happen if we felt what we felt, said what we wanted, became firm about our beliefs, and valued what we needed? What would happen if we let go of our camouflage of adaptation? What would happen if we owned our power to be ourselves?

Would people still like us? Would they go away? Would they become angry?

There comes a time when we become willing and ready to take that risk. To continue growing, and living with ourselves, we realize we must liberate ourselves. It becomes time to stop allowing ourselves to be so controlled by others and their expectations and be true to ourselves - regardless of the reaction of others.

Before long, we begin to understand. Some people may go away, but the relationship would have ended anyway. Some people stay and love and respect us more for taking the risk of being whom we are. We begin to achieve intimacy, and relationships that work.

We discover that who we are has always been good enough. It is who we were intended to be.

Today, I will own my power to be myself.

Woodland Street Revival

Sometimes... staying in on a Saturday night just feels so right. 

Especially when I'm woodshedding for the Woodland Street Revival tomorrow. 

Set list is a barn burner my friends. 

AND, we've got Jonell Mosser and TJ McFarland as our special guests. MMmmMMM goodness.

We're accepting donations for Second Harvest again this month... bring some non-perishable food to help our friends in need.

The bloody mary bar opens with the doors at 1 pm.

Soulfacerocking starts at 1:30ish.

Hope you can make it out.

Light on Religion.

Heavy on the Soul.

AMEN!

Letting go of a fairy tale.

It's been a little more than a year since I discovered that the life I was living was a complete fairy tale. The one thing I thought was for sure… turned out to be blissful ignorance.  

While there are many days I wish I hadn’t discovered the key(s) to pandora’s box, over the past 12+ months, I’ve come to realize that it was a complete blessing.

My life was real.

Authentic.

And, I was giving 100% to a relationship I thought was reciprocal. 

Over most of the past 12+ months, I’ve questioned if the person I’d become during the past 16 years was real.

Today, I’m done with that.

I was real.

I was faithful.

I was living a life that I loved with someone I loved wholly.

AND, I like who I became during those years.

I found myself, my voice and maintained the character of a person I wanted to be.

With that, I’m realizing more and more, that I can’t control what someone else did / does when sharing that life.

Now that I know the whole truth, I won’t regret a thing. 

All I can feel is gratitude and find a way to take my life to the next level, in spite of the disappointment and heartache I've experienced as the result of someone else’s choices.

Those weren’t my choices.

It’s my turn to take care of me, for the first time in my life, to put myself ahead of everyone else. Not in a selfish way, but in a self-care way. Living my life for someone else's dream is no longer an option.

And, while it’s taken almost a year for me to come to that conclusion, I’m ready to put that into action.

While the “action” part is coming slowly, I’m making progress. 

The fact of the matter is that I’ve had an amazing life so far. I loved being married and sharing my life with John. I miss it. I miss us. But I know now that most of those 16 years were full of deception. I won’t regret half of my life because someone else chose to disrespect it. My choices were honest, real and good. No matter what, I will continue to be that person.

It’s my hope that I’ve got another 40 years in me… and I trust those years will be even better than the last 43.

For now, I'm content letting things be and evolve without expectation. I'm also perfectly fine being on my own and surrounded by some pretty amazing friends and family. If at some point I discover there is someone out there who will not deceive me, or take my love, vows, loyalty and commitment for granted, I'll know what to do. 

God has lead me here. God has my back and has had my back. And, if I let myself surrender, God will show me the path that is laid out in front of me.

No more putting myself last.

It’s my time now… and I’m gonna make it count.

TONIGHT: Jeffrey Steel & the Band will ROCK MY FACE

Cannot wait to hang with peeps and catch Jeffrey Steele, Steve Cirkvencic (guitar), Tommy MacDonald (bass) & Tom Hambridge (drums) tonight.

3rd & Lindsley
8 pm - Pearl Heart
10 ish - Jeffrey Steele

It's gonna be packed... but soooo worth it. C'mon.

Have you seen the sandman?

Mr. Sandman,

I know it's been awhile since we've spoken or spent quality time together, but I'd really like to change that.  Please say you're ready to try again. I really believe we can make this work.

With big love & sugary kisses,
*hug*
Jeanne

I'm alive.