Providence in Patience

When waiting for college to start, I've found it incredibly frustrating to just sit around. Keeping busy is always helpful and allows less time for worrying about the millions of things that [possibly] could go wrong. This is the main reason I decided to go on a youth trip with my church to West Virginia. The only people remotely close to my age were a guy named Gage and a girl named Ali. We had tons of fun, and little opportunities to help out kept coming up just when I found myself not having anything to do. It was encouraging when I found that the youth group we were to spend a day with was made up of kids my age! God knows exactly how we feel every second of the day. Better...He knows how we WILL feel before we even come into the situation!

After a great trip, we stopped by a Burger King on the way home. Ali and I weren't really in the mood for a fast food burger, so we hiked up to the nearest Bojangles. The walk stretched out the kinks in our legs and backs that we got from being crammed into bus seats, and the pungent odour of cajun fried chicken greeted our noses. We were waiting for our food when a random black lady walked up to me and asked if I truly believed what my shirt said. I hadn't really given much thought to my "Be Real, Stay Pure" t-shirt with the "Blessed are the pure in heart" verse printed on the back. She asked again, and I answered that I did indeed. Her face lit up, and she said, "Then you're my sister! Come here, girl!" She proceeded to give me a hug, and we talked for a minute about how young people today are often too ashamed to proclaim the message of Christ. She saw Ali and asked her if she "knew Him". She answered that she did and was given a hug as well. A few more minutes of talking allowed us to hear about the church that she attended. Ali and I picked up our food and walked back to our group with smiles on our faces and excitement in our hearts.

I'm very sorry we were just passing through. The lady had invited us to a homecoming at her church, but we had to decline. If she was just a reflection of her entire church family, that would easily have been one of the most beautiful events I had attended. God knew I was wondering what it was like to be surrounded by fellow Christians who were excited and growing. He knew that I wanted to see if anyone outside of my little Anderson/Greenville bubble knew Him and counted every redeemed person as family and every lost person as a potential family member. You may call me dramatic, but I don't really care. He sent a sister from another "world" entirely across my path which had never happened before, and THAT is exciting!!!

Whispers of a tri-county Bible study during the upcoming school year, schemes for complete involvement in society activities, anticipations for a new life of work and study and an unhindered healthy lifestyle, and hopes of learning new life skills definitely make life seem to move at a slower pace. Add the element of not knowing where the support will come from to the mix, and you have the perfect picture of a person jogging up a narrow hill next to a very slippery slope of worry and depression...at least in my head. ;-p That's probably normal, though. I'm thinking I'm very close to another paradigm shift. You know what I'm talking about, right? Those moments where everything you thought you knew is suddenly and irreversibly seen in a new light, and it leaves you feeling sick until you get used to it...? It really makes you appreciate the old picture of a person holding onto God in the "storms" of life. They may not even be trials, but if your entire world shifts from under your feet, He truly is the only thing that remains unmoved. Little instances of His providence in my attempts at patient waiting remind me of that. ^_^

*~FUR~*
Proverbs 31:30

p.s. Thank you for your prayers! I'll let you know something...I have a thing for educated and upscale black men. If you didn't know that by now, then you must not know me very well. ;-) I hope you enjoy that feeling of humour and speechlessness you just had. Glad I could add a little "interestingness" to your day.