Kickin’ it Old School

Erinn and I have had a fun couple of weeks. Our daughter has been away at 2 summer sleepover camps in a row and we’ve had opportunity to have a bunch of ‘date nights’. We both love going to the movies, we did that a LOT when we were dating and first got married before Cate came along, so we’ve gone to see 3 films in the past 8 days. That feels like more than we’ve gone to in the past 10 years. (We were in a goofy mood the first night so went to see ‘Tammy’ for a few laughs. We did chuckle a little but it was a let down to be sure. Then we saw X-Men which was ok but afterwards I was left feeling uninspired and declared that I was done with those kinds of movies. We finally saw ‘Begin Again’ last nigh which was a hit for us. It was one of those movies I loved and didn’t want to end. So great on so many levels. I’d highly recommend it)

Anyhoo, another thing Erinn and I did a lot of when we were dating (minds outta the gutter please) was street outreach. We’d make a bunch of sandwiches and pack bagged lunches and go downtown and hand them out either on our own or with a youth group that we’d be guiding. We called these nights ‘sandwich runs’. We’d sometimes do this 3 times per week. We loved it. We’d stay out real late, hang out with our friends on the street, give spiels to youth groups as to why it’s important as Christians to seek justice for the poor, and when we were done we’d often end up at Fran’s on College Street eating lemon meringue pie or rice pudding until the wee hours of the morning. We fell in love with each other and the streets in those days. They were foundational times that prepared us for the work we’ve committed our whole lives to.
So last weekend Erinn, along with some folks from her ministry in Parkdale called ‘The Dale’, was taking a youth group out on a sandwich run and because Cate was away she asked if I’d like to go with her.
I said yes.
So on Friday night we got in the car, drove to Parkdale, had Roti’s together for dinner, checked out their community garden, met 27 young people from Markham and handed out sandwiches with them, went for a snack afterwards, and went home.

It was awesome!
It was old school.

Of course lots has changed in the close to 20 years since we started doing this.
You couldn’t have paid me to eat a roti back then whereas now it’s one of my fave things to eat on the planet.
Community gardens were unheard of in the mid-90’s.
I rode my mobility scooter this time around instead of walking. And when we were done we didn’t go out for pie but went to 7-11 for a froster and were in bed by 10:15pm:)
And even though I’m quite ok with sandwich runs being a part of my past, it reminded me of why I fell in love with the streets.

And more importantly, I was reminded of how I fell in love with the beautiful Erinn Oxford.

I’m feeling quite thankful these days.
and blessed.

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