Life Is Short... Live Love

Adam Benton 1975 - 2003

Over the Christmas break my wife Alicia’s family experienced great heartache. Her 18-year-old cousin, Caleb was driving to visit a friend and was in a collision that took his life instantly. He was coming over a hill and texting on his phone when the road veered to the right. He kept going straight and ended up in the wrong lane and ran head on into a truck pulling a horse trailer.

That Saturday we attended the funeral. Once the traditional Catholic funeral was over we returned to Mandi and Jonathan’s house, Caleb’s parents. Although the occasion really sucked, it was great seeing all of Alicia’s extended family. It was then that I began thinking to myself how important all of those people were. They were family.

A few weeks before this incident, I learned that Sequoyah high school would be retiring my brother Adam’s #13 jersey. For those who don’t know… In 2003 my 27 year old, older brother dropped dead suddenly at work. He had a massive heart attack that claimed his life instantly. The organizers of the ceremony requested some digital photos of Adam to use during the presentation. As a result, I got to look at old pictures of my brother and reminisce about his life. I still cannot believe that he is not with us. His life was taken in an instant.

Reminiscing on Adam’s life and dealing with Caleb’s death made me think a lot during the Christmas holidays. I couldn’t help but be re-confronted with the reality that life is short. We are not promised tomorrow. Today could be my last day. Which begs the question… How am I going to spend this time I have here? Do I spend it seeking after money, power and fame? Do I spend it focused on my own selfish interests? Or, will I spend my time I have left living love?

As we sat around playing poker one night with Alicia’s family, I was reminded that the love we share as a family is really what life is all about. So many other things that life offers will leave us empty handed at the end of the day, but love fills our hearts and souls to capacity. We have only one life to life… I hope to use mine to live love to my family, friends, and others. Life is short… Live Love!

Sunday Paper

So... It's weird reading an article about yourself.

The Sunday paper was looking for someone to do a story on who works with the homeless of Atlanta. A good friend of mine recommended me to Mrs. Cauley and so a few weeks ago she called.

Click here to read the article. I am very honored.

Behind the Black Doors - Rick's Story

As soon as we stepped inside and the doors slam behind us it was complete darkness. Rick told us to get out our cell phones and use them as flashlights. He led us to the stairs and we climbed up. Light began to creep in the higher we went. We followed the light to a door. We crossed the threshold and what we saw next changed our perspective in a unique way.

Rick is a good friend of mine that is living homeless in downtown Atlanta. Last week Jared and I had some time before a Project Live Love meeting and decided to visit with some friends. As soon as we parked and started up the street we bumped into Rick. I knew from previous conversations that Rick was living in an abandoned hotel. I asked if he would be willing to take Jared and I on a tour of the building. Once we finished recording the tour, I asked Rick to share some of his story on camera.

I invite you to watch this seven and a half minute video of what Rick had to say. Go behind the doors and see what it is like living homeless in downtown Atlanta.

Charles and Marcus

Yesterday I had some time between meetings downtown. I began driving around trying to visit with some of my homeless friends. I drove to a side of town I had not been to before. It was there that I bumped into two guys I had never met.

Charles and Marcus lived under an overpass off I-20. They were huddled by a bucket campfire when I drove up. I pulled over and got out to go meet them. After talking for a few minutes, I asked if they would be willing to share some of their story on camera.

Filming this world and these people is all very new to me. I have shot only a few short videos in the past. Let me know what you think??? The rain and traffic made a few parts hard to hear… sorry. So… here are their stories.

What A Beautiful Sight? - Atlanta Homeless Connect

That is the sight of several hundred homeless men and women getting connected to resources in Atlanta.

Some time ago a few people from the United Way and the Living Room got together and began talking about bringing a national initiative called Project Homeless Connect to Atlanta. I had the pleasure of attending the initial meeting where this concept was pitched to a group of Atlanta leaders. During the meeting it was decided that we would go forward with bringing this event to Atlanta and thus Atlanta Homeless Connect (AHC) was born.

After several months of hard work from so many, yesterday was the event. It was awesome. Over forty-five different organizations that serve the homeless and poor came together to offer their services on one day. There were housing options, work programs, drug rehab programs, legal aid, HIV/ AIDS testing, mobile medical units, haircuts, phone home stations, and so much more. People came from all over the city to connect with these resources.

Before the event started I was called outside to help keep the line under control because people kept cutting the line. My job then morphed into being in charge of the door and keeping the line calm. I loved this assignment because I got to greet everyone as they came in the event. I got to just hang out and love on these beautiful people.

As people entered through the door, I would ask them why they attended today. Some would say they came to try and get a job or find housing. Others just came for the free lunch and to see what was going on. No matter why the 700+ people came each person was impacted in some why by attending. The overall impact of this day will only be measured in time.

More than 300 volunteers came together to help make the event possible. Thank you to everyone who put their love in action and helped make AHC a reality.

Helping Atlanta Flood Families Day 2

Here are some videos of the great work that is being done to help Atlanta families rebuild and some of their stories.





Day 2 was cut at 2:00 as the rains were causing the water to rise again. We will be putting together some projects over the next few weeks. Please let me know if you would like to join in.

Helping Atlanta Flood Families Cleanup

Today I had the pleasure of serving some families who were in need of some help. They were all victims of the floods that Atlanta experienced earlier this week. A friend of mine, Eric Jones, lives in a neighborhood where many homes were affected by the floods. On Thursday we put the word out on Facebook and some awesome students from Atlanta Bible College answered the call. Here are some of the families’ stories and the work we were able to accomplish.

Last night I took an old white t-shirt of mine and wrote with Sharpie the words LIVE LOVE in big letters across the chest. The question I heard the most today was, “Why are you here helping?” It was awesome to explain to people that I was there because I wanted to show others love in a real way.

We worked for several hours today and only made a dent in the amount of work that needs to be done. Please join us tomorrow as we head back to these families to continue the work we started.

It looks like it is going to rain tomorrow so please come prepared. The details and directions can be found here.