mandy inchaustegui

Every once in a while, I get an itch to do a family project that’s a bit of an experiment. Here’s the latest Inchaustegui adventure!

We live in a fairly urban part of Los Angeles. We regularly see people who are homeless, walking on our street with their shopping carts or hanging out at the corner of a major intersection that’s close by. It’s so easy to just get used to it, not acknowledging the humanity of the people we see. I wanted to change this for our kids. Everyone is a person, with feelings, hopes, dreams and hurts. No matter who they are or what they’ve been through, we are to love.

So, I decided that we could make about 20 brown bag lunches and drive around town, handing them out to people who looked like they could use a meal. Working together as a family team, we had our mission to simply love a tiny piece of this city.

First, we laid the brown bags on the living room floor and Xander and I wrote “Happy Valentine’s Day” on the front. Then, all four of us made an assembly line to make 20 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Elijah and Xander opened and set up all the bags and, working together, put a sandwich, an apple, an orange, some peanut butter crackers and some valentine’s chocolates in each bag. Finally, Anthony and Xander wrote “You are loved” on some little valentine cards and one went into each bag. We closed them up, put them in a box and loaded up the car, ready to hand them out.

Our first stop was to find a woman we see all the time. She’s always walking around and I often see her cooking and doing her laundry on the side of the road. We found her sitting on the street, by a bridge. Anthony and Xander got out to give her a bag of food and she started screaming at them to go away. Anthony tried to explain what we were doing but she wouldn’t take it. They quietly got back into the car, with both boys asking the obvious question. We talked about how people often get hurt so badly that it can be really hard to receive love sometimes. And how it’s difficult to admit that we might need help. We all could relate and connect with her. We were sad but we understood.

Next, stop…Figueroa and York. This is a pretty big hangout for people and this evening was no exception. We parked the car, took our boys and the box of meals (Elijah is in his Spiderman costume, by the way), and walked over to the benches on the corner. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous. I knew things were ok but I also knew that we were walking into a situation where we were not in control. I took a deep breath and followed Anthony.

There were a little over a dozen people there, men and women. Their faces lit up when we asked them if they wanted some food and that we just wanted to tell them Happy Valentine’s Day. Xander and Elijah passed out the bags, with huge smiles. Apparently, peanut butter and jelly is a favorite among adults, too!

For me, I watched their faces. The women looked me in the eye and just kept saying, “Thank you.” One gentleman, pulled out the valentine card first and just stared at it for quite a while. You are loved.

We got back in the car to drive around, looking for more people who might appreciate what we had to give. As we drove, we talked. We talked about Matthew 25 where Jesus says, “as you do to the least of these, you do to me.” We talked about how everyone is human and deserves to be loved and is valuable. We talked about the Lord’s Prayer and how we are to pray and live, “Your Kingdom come.” We talked about love.

We found a few other people. Looking for homeless people on the streets of LA is kinda like asking a woman who’s pregnant when she is due. You better be sure and not assume. Unfortunately, it didn’t take us long to hand out the 20 bags. We ended the night with Happy Hour at a hipster burger joint in Eagle Rock. We talked about how we were grateful for the love we have for each other and how thankful we are for what we have. And how thankful we are to love and serve others.

The next day was a rainy one in LA. As we drove by York and Fig, Xander looked out the window of the car to see if the people we talked to the night before were there. “I’m looking for our friends, Mom! I hope our friends are staying dry. We should go back and talk to them.”

Our friends.

Our little Valentine’s Day adventure took less than two hours from start to finish. Something so small, yet, with an impact that extends far beyond what we may ever know. For now, it is enough to know that my kids see the humanity and value of those around us, regardless of a person’s circumstances.

“For God so loved the world…”

A Valentine’s Day well spent.