Spent the night at the Tigard Good Neighbor Center as the overnight volunteer host. 

Spending the night at a family shelter is a brief look at what it might be like to be homeless.

Families have lost their home, or apartment. Many families have lost jobs. At the shelter, families also lose some freedoms in exchange for a roof, meals and a chance at a better life.

But what I have seen at reminds me that no matter how much we have lost, we still have a lot left.

Even if we “lose everything”, we often still have our friends and family, and places like the Good Neighbor Center to help us get back on our feet. And even if we “lose everything”, we still have a lot to give back – like the smiles I received tonight from the guests.

And for those who “have everything”, perhaps it is valuable to look at whether all those possessions are really making us happy. Are they being used or are they just clutter and waste, causing grief and anguish?

And for those of us somewhere in the middle, maybe we have more than we realize and want more than we need.

It’s not about what we lose. It’s about what we have left.