Once a week Lacy Borgo meets with children in spiritual direction at Haven House, a transitional facility for homeless families. If you commended her for this, Lacy would tell you that she is the one who is blessed by these sacred times together. ​“I do not come to Haven House to be Jesus, necessarily. I come to Haven House to meet Jesus.”

This month’s focus is on the Social Justice tradition. I asked Lacy to write an essay that flows within this stream. She came back with a personal and profound work titled Unlimited Liability: A Movement Towards Generosity.

The essay opens with a glimpse into Lacy’s unusual childhood, one which gives her a unique perspective on ministry: 

My parents scraped together just enough cash to purchase an old house on the rougher side of town. This house had been converted into a convenience store. Think 7‑Eleven, but without all the formality. We (my parents, myself, and my younger brother) lived and slept in the single car garage and the rest of the house was gutted and then transformed into a corner store.

I won’t give any more away. Just know that reading this essay — and listening to Nathan Foster’s conversation with Lacy on the Renovaré Podcast this week — is time well spent. Her words have already impacted the way I think about people on the margins, people who as Mother Teresa discovered are ​“Jesus in his most distressing disguise.”