This evening I photographed a wedding in West Nashville, and as I was walking into the venue, I noticed a man in a tie-dye shirt sitting by a table. He held a coke out with his right arm, and his left shirt sleeve lay flat against his side. It would have been easy to walk past him, as I'm sure many venue workers had, but I smiled and introduced myself. I didn't have much time to talk with him, but I learned his name, Steve, and I shared a huge grin.

During my first two years in college I helped organize some relational homeless ministry on my campus where we walked around simply to hear people's stories or to hand out hot chocolate on a cold winter night. Some of the stories we heard were far-fetched, but so many others were genuine and filled with hope.

People like James who moved to Nashville for construction work and struggle to find income during the off seasons.

I met Teresa on several occasions, and after sitting with her for nearly 45 minutes, a man from a nearby restaurant had seen us and gave her some money. Only then did she agree to take a picture, telling us she hadn't truly smiled in a very long time.

There are others like Michelle, who shared her story and gave us a rose before we left.

And then there's Nathan, who saw Michelle at a bus stop struggling to deal with the changes in her life, and sought her out, sitting here on this bench in the rain listening to her process everything.

Hank came out of homelessness several years ago, and stands on the streets of downtown Nashville performing spoken word about the invisible people still caught in his former situation.

And then you have men like Timothy, who caught our attention by calling out, "Jesus loves you!" from a gate on Broadway. He left a home because he felt like God was calling him to a city in Texas, and he immediately set out on a bike journey from Indiana. Timothy talked and prayed with us, and joined us for dinner and a worship event the following night.

If you bring out a musical instrument, you might end up playing a guitar/mandolin duet with David and Hank, attracting crowds and musical passersby.

And then you've got Blind Mike. He's been sitting in his spot for several years now selling the Contributor and entertaining those walking by. Mike got new glasses between the first and second times we saw him, and he was able to join us for breakfast and worship at Ethos Church one Sunday.

There are so many awesome people on the streets of our city that will open up with some amazing stories when you just sit and show them that they're loved. Ninja and Joshua were selling papers to make enough money to continue their bus journey to all 48 continental states, Marcus plays his Styrofoam cup trumpet all throughout the streets to entertain kids and adults alike, and I'm sure Steve had an incredible story to tell as well. So many of the people I've met there have incredible, unfailing faith in God's plan for their lives, even when they are stuck in such difficult situations. It is so inspiring!

There are smiles to be shared and stories to be heard, if we will only stop and listen.