so I was at LateLove last night.
LateLove is this thing run by CU
where we give out tea/coffee+biscuits to people
passing by from a night out and 70% of the people
we meet are drunk and we're just showing
God's love in a practical way.

so anyway, I was done with my shift of
standing in the freezing cold pouring tea
and was walking inside to warm my ears
when one of my other medic friends
called me over so I went without thinking.

he and this other guy were standing supporting
this really drunk girl who was lost and didn't know
where she was so we HAD to bring her home.
they didn't want to go without a girl cause
it would've looked really sleazy and bad.

so anyway we wandered up the streets
for ages and she kept chasing us away cause
she felt bad but there was NO way we were leaving her alone!
she was looking for her sister's house but
she didn't know exactly where she lived and
her sister wasn't picking up her phone
so we just wandered about for an hour looking
for nothing in particular and hoping fervently
that someone would pick up the phone
and the poor girl would have somewhere to sleep.

it was weird, cause i've never been refused help
so many times in an hour and she just kept insisting
that we leave her alone (in a nice way though) and
that she'll be fine and okay.
but with the way she was teetering on her heels,
we had to prop her up the whole way so
there was no way she was going to find home
without acquiring a major injury.

so we wandered.
and wandered about some more.

til finally she led us to this area quite far away
and to this random house and announced that
it was where she lived.
I wasn't sure whether to believe her cause
you know, people never make much sense
when they're intoxicated.

one of the guys took her key, prayed that it was right,
and turned it and miraculously, it worked!
it was such a relief knowing that she was safe home
and that at least one less person in Belfast
was stranded last night (:

i just felt this rush of something
and i know this sounds cheesy, but my heart swelled
with joy (a bit like the Grinch).

and somehow, that rush gave me more inner happiness
than anything this week (and it's been a GREAT week!)
and i'm definitely going to see into what i can
do more in this area (:

is it wrong to extract so much joy
from helping someone?

cause it would seem more hedonistic
than altruistic then right?

i don't know.
but if it makes one person go home safe
and another feel really great,
it's a pretty good night.