Surface Level: Why we haven't found a solution to the homeless crisis

No one knows me better than those who have lived with me. My parents, sister, college roommates, the family that lived with us last year, my husband, and my children know me best. They know me best because the facade I show to the outside world can only be held for so long. Once inside my home, the smile fades, the frustrations show, and my feelings bleed through my shaky exterior. The people who live(d) with me know that I clean obsessively when I am stressed, have a weird (and kind of gross habit) of pulling out my hair when I am bored, and can binge watch the Office like no one's business.

Sojourner, HomelessnessJennie HeidemanMarch 14, 2019homelessness, Sojourner

On Self-Pity

While I am continually learning something new, I am also often confronted with feelings of my past. Today, the February 6th devotion brought a tidal wave of heavy emotions as I read the words that brought me to my knees and transformed my heart in the most gut-wrenching way this day last year.

Sojourner, Homelessness, PersonalJennie HeidemanFebruary 6, 2019homelessness, Hard Things, Sojourner

On Fear and the Different

As a little girl, I often thought about traveling. I thought about going to India or China or the Middle East. I liked to think about these places because they are so unfamiliar and to be perfectly honest these places scared me a little bit. However, they scared me in a good way - like the type of nervousness you feel before setting out of a great adventure.

That said, two things have always held me back from actually traveling…

Homelessness, SojournerJennie HeidemanJanuary 22, 2019Sojourner, homelessness

The Plan: practical tools we used to help a homeless family find permanent housing

Welcome to part four of the homeless series where I recount the story of how we had a homeless family of four (two adults and two children) live with us for eight months and worked with them to get them into permanent housing. In my last post, I told the whole story of having the homeless family live with us - including some of the tools we used to help this family get into permanent housing. Today I am going to narrow in on the tools we used to help this family.

HomelessnessJennie HeidemanJanuary 17, 2019homelessness, how to help

The Whole Story

Time. We live in a culture that values “me time.” And that is fine. However, how do we react when “our” time is taken away? Having this family live with us challenged me and what I view as “mine.” The truth is that as Christians, we are not our own. The question then remains, can we trust Christ with our time and our mental stability when we are stretched so thin we become transparent?

HomelessnessJennie HeidemanOctober 16, 2018homelessness, Hard Things

A Prepared Heart

I know that hosting a homeless family for eight months because I saw a Facebook post may appear impulsive, but in actuality, I feel like God had been preparing to say "yes" to that post for years beforehand. When I spend time reflecting on our decision to host the family, I realize that the reason for hosting this family was all due to a book.

Homelessness, PersonalJennie HeidemanJuly 24, 2018homelessness, how to help

The Genesis: Inviting a Homeless Family into Our Home

When people find out that we had a homeless family live with us for eight months, several questions usually arise. But the most common question asked is often along the lines of, “how did this all start?” And the answer to that is simple

HomelessnessJennie HeidemanJuly 17, 2018homelessness Comments