Happy New Year!

Hallelujah it's 2012!

In the spirit of new things, I'm writing my first entry this year, hoping to write more consistently in the future. Inspiring this post today, is an unusual story...

An unexpected thing happened today after church. Our small group went out to lunch at a small Vietnamese restaurant in Midtown. While eating, a man came in asking if we would give him some food. My friend Roel had ordered an extra sandwich to go and quickly handed it to the man. The man then sat down at the table behind us, quickly devouring the sandwich. We continued to talk, but I was aware of the man behind us and almost asked him to sit with us. As he finished, he came over to our table to say thank you, then took out some documents showing he had a storage unit nearby. I could tell he was going to ask for money, and I was worried to know how to respond. So I prayed silently that the Holy Spirit would lead. He told us he was in a divorce, had gone to Second Baptist, and then he started crying when he mentioned his 14 year old daughter. It was then that my leader passed down some money to contribute, and I handed him some, telling him we wanted to contribute, hoping he could do the same for someone someday. He gave me his phone number and email, wanting to repay us someday or do odd jobs as a thank you, but we told him that wasn't necessary. He then paused, and staring down at the table, asked us to pray for him, specifically for "the Lord to sustain him". So I asked him if he wanted us to pray with him right then. He eagerly said yes, sat down at the table, and we grasped hands, bowing our heads. We each prayed, even Darryl, and he wept the entire prayer. When we were done, he looked up at me with tears dripping down his cheeks and said a sincere, "Thank You". I gave him a hug then, because I believe that's it's moments like that when you need a hug the most-someone letting you know that you are human and they are human with you. My friend Jesse said he would call Darryl to check on and encourage him, since Darryl mentioned he didn't have any friends. He left then, telling us all thank you and apologizing for intruding.

I don't know if he really will follow through on paying for his storage unit or if he had a changed heart, but I know God used us to encourage him. I know I felt the Holy Spirit prodding me to talk to him, and I saw God working on his heart. I'm thankful I was used and hope 2012 holds many more similar stories.