Tyler arrived home about 20 minutes before we headed to bed. It was around this time that one of the young ladies asked me where they would be sleeping. I told her she would be in the guest bedroom. Her jaw dropped, "In the bed?". "Yep." We walked down the hall, and she asked me which room she would be sleeping in. I pointed to the guest bedroom, and she promptly asked where I would sleep. I pointed next door to our bedroom. She looked at me bewildered, and asked "ya'll don't sleep together?" I responded that we did. "So, why do you have two rooms?" I explained that it was a guest room/office, but as I was explaining, realized, in her mind- there must be a purpose for the room- why else would we have it? How else could we have it?
I proceeded to the bathroom to wash my face, while Ty talked to the girls in the hallway. This same young lady then pronounced to Ty, "Ya'll are rich". While he proceeded to tell her that half of our furniture is secondhand, craigslist, or the like, I stood with soap on my face, convicted. We always hear that we are so wealthy in America, that if you can pay your bills you are wealthy, etc. I have heard this, and thought I understood it. Yes, I am well off compared to those in 3rd world countries, and I am grateful. But to be told I am "rich" by a girl who lives 5 miles from my home, as she stood in my 800 something square foot apartment filled with hand-me downs? That changed my thinking in a way I had not expected.
The next day, we got up and headed to Sojourn for a pancake breakfast. As I sat with the girls at breakfast, another leader asked this same girl if she would now consider coming to S2 on Wednesdays with us (she had never previously attended). She stated she would not. One and a half hours later, as we sat in service, I realized I would have to leave directly at the end of service and might not see this special girl again. I wrote her a note (Yes, I wrote a note in church)! I told her I enjoyed getting to know her, and was glad that she had come to my home. I passed her the note. She quickly asked me for my pen, scrounged another piece of paper from the back of the seat in front of her, and wrote me back. Her note said this "I'm glad you enjoyed having me at your house. You are a nice person, a kind person. I will go to Wednesday night. Do you go to Wednesday night?"
WOW. Praise the LORD. Totally a God thing. Nothing I could have thought, or planned would have worked out that well. Thank you Lord for using me, even in small things.
Last night, she came to S2, and brought her sister!
So in a weekend where I was exhausted, and had nothing to give, God worked.
