Psalm 27.13-14

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

How to dress like the Daughter of a King for under $30.00

Where do I begin with the story about S. We met almost two years ago when we both started doing Church in the Park. I came to serve, she came to eat. At first she would hardly talk to anyone. She never smiled. She slept in empty trailers and mobile homes around the city.
As time has gone on she has come to trust us and we have spent many Friday mornings laughing and joking and praying for her mother and her pregnant sister. She loves us now. We love her.
Just recently she has moved back home but still comes for church and lunch every week.
Not too long ago she was sad again. She handed me a police report. I thought she had been arrested or something like that. No. She had been attacked and they found her assailant and jailed him. She was afraid. She was humiliated. He touched her...Let me explain about S....she thinks like a child. She is an adult but she is a child inside. She broke down and cried, terrified at what had happened to her.

Then, the next couple of weeks she seemed to forget about the whole ordeal and was happy again.
Two weeks ago she came with another piece of paper...a subpoena to testify against this jerk. She was petrified and didn't want to face her attacker.
I couldn't blame her, could you?
It was just that morning I struggled with putting $30.00 in my pocket. I don't usually have cash on me ever. It keeps me from spending money that I do not need to be spending. But that morning I put the cash in my pocket.
Back to S....she was terrified and as we were parting for the day she cried because she didn't have anything to wear to court.
I gave her the money. I wouldn't usually do that. I would usually take someone to the store and buy what they needed and leave it at that but because of our schedules, both hers and mine that was just not going to happen.
She promised to use it for an outfit. And she did. We, all the women there got around her and we asked the Lord to go before her in that courtroom and He did.
Because last Friday she came to Church in the Park and was beaming. There she was, Black skirt, bright pink button down shirt, and to top it all off she had the cutest pair of black and pink ballet slippers.
She said, "Guess what?"
"What?" we all said.
"This is my new outfit!" said she.
"You look beautiful!" said I.
"Guess what?" said she.
"What?"
"I didn't have to testify!"
She went on to explain that when she got to court and they guy saw her he plead guilty.
"Who did that for you, S?" we said.
"Jesus?" she asked.
"Yes, Jesus did just what we asked Him to do for you when we all prayed together."
She just smiled.
What a glorious day. God, our God out there under the gazebo taking care of such a motley crew as we all are. Imagine that.
There it is... a day in the life of me...getting to watch God as He touches the lives around me.
Church of Acts alive and well under the trees on a Friday morning.

5 comments:

Happy said...

thank You, Jesus...

(and thank you, Linda, for sharing this story of God's goodness. He truly is SOOOO good to us.) :)

faintnot said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
faintnot said...

had to remove the last post due to bad typing skills!!!

Thanks, Happy for loving what I love and always being there to share the joy... ;-)

Nate said...

He cares for the least of these. It is awesome to see prayers answered. Many say that miracles don't happen anymore. Don't know why they say that with evidence like this.

Did you ever think that the $30 that you gave her, made her look respectable enough that the assailant believed that she would make a credible witness. Something he probably did not believe before then. Just a thought. But, still God working.

faintnot said...

Nate, how awesome it is to hear from you...
I believe in miracles for sure.
Glad you do too!