Sometimes God speaks to us in the most profound and incredibly
surprising ways.
It was one beautiful, bright morning in New York City that
He chose to both use me and speak to me.
I had taken eight young ladies and one teacher from our dance company to
a dance convention in New York. The
girls would have the opportunity to take classes and perform in Times
Square. We were adding in a visit to a Broadway
musical and some other fun activities, but it was our service project that
turned out to bless me more than anything the whole trip!
We had arranged to work at a homeless mission, serving
breakfast and leading worship. When we
were scheduling our volunteer work, I let the director know that my dancers
would lead worship and I agreed to speak or preach as well. As the day came closer, I got more and more
nervous about speaking about my faith to
a group of strangers; I had been trying to live it for years, but didn’t feel
that I was wise enough or scholarly enough to actually preach the gospel. It was when God reminded me of the old adage that
He doesn’t call the equipped, but equips the called that I set my mind to it.
The morning arrived.
After my girls had served coffee and led worship with their singing and dancing,
it was time for me to step up to the plate…or the podium to be precise. I started by welcoming the crowd and telling them that this was my first time to preach with my words. I asked them with a chuckle to please smile
at me and wave every so often to help make me feel more comfortable. Many smiled and seemed on board with this “team”
arrangement, but one lady, was already there.
Her name was Priscilla and she was smiling when I stepped
up. As I looked around the room at the
30-35 tired and weary souls who had come, my eyes fell on Priscilla’s wide
smile and her beaming eyes. She looked
to have her worldly possessions in her pack and was dressed warmly for this
crisp April morning. As I spoke, I found
myself glancing at her more often than others, as she nodded along in agreement
with my sharing the words of Jesus.
After I finished and gave the blessing, my girls began to
serve the breakfast and wrapped sandwiches for later. I went over to Priscilla
and touched her back. She looked up at
me and smiled the way I imagine an angel would smile. I
told her that I wanted to thank her for how comfortable she made me feel and
how much she helped me through that first vulnerable time of sharing. She began to tell me how much she enjoyed the
girls’ dancing and my sermon and how much we had blessed her. She
asked me about the girls’ performance the next day in Times Square and assured
me that she was coming to watch.
She
then told me that her office was in Times Square as well. Her office?
I realized that I had subconsciously observed that she was dressed a bit
nicer than the more typical clientele and was clean and seemed very alert. I began to wonder why a woman who has an
office in Times Square would be having breakfast and taking extra sandwiches to
go from a homeless mission.
We hugged and told each other again how blessed we had both
been to have met and she left the mission.
It was only after everyone had left and we had finished the cleanup that
I asked the mission supervisor about Priscilla.
I was curious if they were aware that she had an office in Times Square
and were ok with serving people in more stable financial situations. The director smiled at me gently and said,
“She doesn’t have an office in Times Square.”
He then began to tell me of all her troubles and mental health
challenges, as well as how she lost custody of her son and his similar mental
health challenges.
I was pretty shocked.
I felt VERY naïve….for only a few minutes. Then I realized, it didn’t
matter.
God had used both of us to bless the other one and she was a
cherished, loved child of our Lord the same as my own children, my friends and
me. It didn’t matter whether she had an
office in Times Square, a penthouse on 5th Avenue or was sleeping in
the subway station….Jesus loved her just the same.
How often do we subconsciously create classes
or positions in life that absolutely DO NOT EXIST in God’s kingdom. No matter what Hollywood, the government or
anyone else tells you about this life, the truth is, we are ALL equal in God’s
eyes. He doesn’t see clothing, jewelry,
houses and cars. He doesn’t see outward
beauty or wealth. God sees our hearts
and knows each one of us for who we are….and loves us anyway.
I went away from the mission that morning feeling blessed
that God had pushed me out of my little comfortable box and gave me the incredible
opportunity to speak to His children. I
thanked Him for bringing Priscilla in that morning to smile at me and give me
the courage that I had been asking for in the days preceding. I praised Him for the gift of His son for
Priscilla, for me – for each soul in that room.
The next day, as my girls took the stage in Times Square,
there was a familiar face on the front row! Priscilla
had indeed come and stood beaming and cheering as she watched her new friends
on the stage. The same joy was on her
face that morning as it had been the day before. Now knowing that her life was completely
different than I had originally thought….didn’t matter. She was
my sister in Christ, a child of God and she mattered.
I went over to talk to her and thank her for coming, her joy
at seeing me again radiating all around. We chatted a bit and when I hugged her good
bye, I knew with almost certainty that I would never see her again, but that
didn’t matter. I will never forget the
joy of her smile and what she reminded me about God’s unconditional love. I’ve heard said often that when you pour out
for God, He will always pour into you. I
was overflowing with the blessings He gave me through my new friend.
…God
has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the
body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it;
if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 1
Corinthians 12:24-26
My prayer for all of you is that you each find ways to push out of YOUR comfortable box and allow God to bless you in turn! He WILL pour into you. His cup never runs out!
@
Please note: If any of you are ever looking for a charity to bless or feel led to donate to a homeless mission, I am including the link to St. Paul's house in NYC. They are an amazing group of people serving meals 5 days a week to the homeless community, working with youth in NYC and offering bible studies to the community. They rely primarily on grants and donations to continue serving as they have been doing for 70 years! There is a tab on their website for donations. God bless you all!
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