Dusk had fallen, and we burst out the doors of the lit up conference center, eager to be out on the California night. Between my family and I, we couldn't stop talking and our laughter blended into the splashing fountains, street musicians, and starry city lights. My bags hung over my wrist bumped against my left side, and my little sister against my right.
Of course we were parked on the street a couple blocks away. As we approached, I saw a woman slumped against the brick wall, her earthly possessions neatly packed into bundles. My dad called out, "We left the books behind! I better go back for them..." I almost got into the van to wait, but instead I turned around.
"Ma'am, are you hungry?" I asked the dark form against the wall.
"Honey, I'm nearly starved. But I am no beggar." growled a sad voice.
"Just a second."
I pulled together a plate of food from our day's packed meals in the ice chest, and sat down cross-legged on the sidewalk, extending the plate out towards the bedraggled woman. We exchanged names, as she tucked her hair behind her ears. Ravenously, she began to gratefully shovel in bite after bite, as I unashamedly watched her. My family leaned against the van about fifteen feet behind me, still chatting together brightly.
"How did you get here?" I asked her, leaning forward, and settling into the concrete comfortably as can be expected.
"Lost my job. Then my house." She blurted, between bites.
"What about your family?" I inquired, my eyebrows beginning to knit together.
"They don't have anything. I'm the one making a way. Look, I'm not some homeless person."
"We all are, though, in a way, Mary." I said quietly, leaning back to look up at the sky.
She stopped eating. "What do you mean?"
"Ever wonder why you feel like you don't belong here or anywhere? Ever wish for something so far away, deep within? Do you love stories of rescue and peace and freedom?"
She leaned back against the wall, looked at me with a sad expression, "All the time. Long as I can remember."
"That's because everyone does, Mary. We all want love and we all want Heaven, even if we won't admit it. The wonderful thing is, you can have it, just for the asking."
As we steered away from the curb that night, I waved goodbye to my new friend. But my hope, is that she will never choose to be alone again. What about you? Have you found what you long for?
Ephesians 2:4-9
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
"Ma'am, are you hungry?" I asked the dark form against the wall.
"Honey, I'm nearly starved. But I am no beggar." growled a sad voice.
"Just a second."
I pulled together a plate of food from our day's packed meals in the ice chest, and sat down cross-legged on the sidewalk, extending the plate out towards the bedraggled woman. We exchanged names, as she tucked her hair behind her ears. Ravenously, she began to gratefully shovel in bite after bite, as I unashamedly watched her. My family leaned against the van about fifteen feet behind me, still chatting together brightly.
"How did you get here?" I asked her, leaning forward, and settling into the concrete comfortably as can be expected.
"Lost my job. Then my house." She blurted, between bites.
"What about your family?" I inquired, my eyebrows beginning to knit together.
"They don't have anything. I'm the one making a way. Look, I'm not some homeless person."
"We all are, though, in a way, Mary." I said quietly, leaning back to look up at the sky.
She stopped eating. "What do you mean?"
"Ever wonder why you feel like you don't belong here or anywhere? Ever wish for something so far away, deep within? Do you love stories of rescue and peace and freedom?"
She leaned back against the wall, looked at me with a sad expression, "All the time. Long as I can remember."
"That's because everyone does, Mary. We all want love and we all want Heaven, even if we won't admit it. The wonderful thing is, you can have it, just for the asking."
As we steered away from the curb that night, I waved goodbye to my new friend. But my hope, is that she will never choose to be alone again. What about you? Have you found what you long for?
“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Ephesians 2:4-9
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
John 3:16-18
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
That quote from C.S. Lewis is one of my favorites--and exactly how I feel! Thank you for sharing this story--it reminds me of Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well! Turning talk of physical hunger into a conversation on spiritual hunger.
ReplyDeleteWhat an encouragement, Johannah! Miss you a lot. <3 I treasure those shopping times we had together. I am reminded of you every day whenever I look at my little Gregory owl. =)
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