Don’t get me wrong, I am SO impressed by the number of people that have signed up at Hurricanehomes.org and openchurches.com. I am amazed at people’s willingness to openly share one of their biggest and most expensive possessions to strangers in need. I pray that many many many more people do this and that there is not a single individual without a place to stay in the aftermath of the hurricane.

At the same time I wonder why more of us weren’t doing this before? I’m guilt of it myself. I was in Minnesota for a summer and I saw that each night about 17,000 people are homeless. I was sure there where at least that many empty guest rooms in “Born-Again” Christian homes in that state. Why don’t we open our homes to every person who needs a place to stay? Why are there homeless when there are empty homes and rooms?

I pray our hearts remain open to the needs of individuals in our own communities even after the hurricane is history. I pray we remember the people down the street in our own community. The one who needs and is looking for shelter and just a place to get their feet on the ground and start again.