Franny, me, and fried chicken...

Franny and I went to get the food today. The gentleman who had cooked the meal was stranded with a broken car on the other side of town. We weren't sure if what we had would be enough so Franny and I both offered to go to Smith's and get some of their fried chicken and chips.

I had never met Franny before. She waited in her pick-up for everyone to arrive this morning while I waited in my car. I always do that...wait in the car. Jimmy made me promise that I would not wait by myself out in the park if I got there early. Today was no different. I called Bekah and I sat and talked with her when I saw the pickup pull in next to me.

When the others arrived with the drinks and part of the meal Franny and I got out of our respective sanctuaries and went over to help Christina. That's when we heard the food would be very late in getting there. I asked Christina if we should go and get food ourselves, you know, ready made. We decided I'd go and get the chicken.

That's when I heard Franny say she wanted to go as well. I thought that was great. Franny and I got into my car and we introduced ourselves.

She and her family just moved here in April. They have not been to the Journey very much...her husband has problems in large social situations. But the time she did go she heard about the Friday morning church service in the park. So, for her birthday she treated herself to some ministry and came to help...I thought that was so cool to give on your birthday.

Sometimes, all a person needs is the opportunity to be a giver...sometimes God simply drops people into the right situations so that they can find the value in their lives.

Franny is thirty-three and has two children. She said that when she came to the desert that's when she saw the majesty of God. That's how I felt thirty years ago when I came to the desert for the first time. That was in New Mexico and I was a hippy looking to find myself. I am so glad that I found God instead. Franny was three years old then.

Now, here we meet, at a church service in the park where 45-50 homeless people join us for a meal and a word. And isn't it funny that we both sat in our cars, waiting for the troops (so to speak).

And isn't it funny that we both thought the same thing when we first laid our eyes on the desert thirty years apart. Isn't it funny and awesome and good that God has not changed...His magnificence still astounds us and affects us no matter what generation we are.

I doubt that Franny and I grew up listening to the same music or having the same politics. I don't think she ever had to travel back and forth across this country to find herself. I think our lives and tastes were very different. But God. His entrance in to both our lives has brought us to the same spot in the universe to do the same thing and for similar reasons.

We missed the Word part of the service today but that's okay. Franny and I got to see how God moves history around to get the job done.

Simple church, God's way, amazing!