Meeting Michelle
Amazing things are happening :D I held off on sharing the first part of this story yesterday as it happened in hopes that something even more grand would be in store today - & there was! & now I can't wait to share it! lol
So yesterday was my first day of classes. At one point in the day I had an hour break between classes, had already lunched & was at a loss of what I should do. So I called my mom & sat on a bench in front of the building I had my next class in. We had a pretty heavy conversation going for quite some time but at some point, a girl sat on a bench in front of me & she too appeared to be in deep conversation. I really didn't think much of it at the time.
Anyway, we're both talking on the phone for like 20 minutes when I notice that she was crying. My heart immediately went out to her & I wanted to comfort her but I was torn because I was in conversation, she was in conversation & let's just be honest here - if a random stranger came up to me while I was crying on the phone, I would probably feel somewhat embarrassed & just want that person to go away. At the same time though, she was crying right there in front of me & a tugging feeling in me really drew me to her. Psalms 23 has been on my heart this week as well at the idea of our Lord as a comforter among other things & I think I knew in me somehow that with this theme of comfort, there was really a calling for me to reach out & comfort this girl.
2:50ish rolls around & I have class at 3pm so I call the convo quits with my mom & astonishingly enough, the girl gets off the phone at about the same time. I seized the opportunity to jump in & ask if she was okay & she explained that she just wasn't having a good day. So I offered to walk her to class & found out that she was a spring admit & wasn't even sure where her class was & I offered to show her where it was - ironically it was not only in the same building as mine but I had just had a class in the same room an hour before. What are the odds right? Anyway, right before we both had to bolt to class I offered my number to her & let her know that I hoped her day got better & to feel free to contact me if she wanted to talk. She seemed really grateful & she gave me her number too & we went along on our merry ways.
I had Michelle on my mind quite a few times throughout the rest of my day. Because I normally don't just do things like that - randomly reach out to people or at least I didn't used to lol it never ceases to astonish people when I tell them I used to be an angsty, antisocial, cynical grump in high school. I know now I'm all bubbley & smiley & out there so I guess it's just hard for people to imagine how I was lol but anyway, Michelle was on my mind & I came to the conclusion that God, our great comforter, was working through me to comfort Michelle in her time of need. Now at the same time I was like, "Jessica, get a grip. You talked to this girl for like 5 minutes & who knows? She might not even call you. Maybe she just thinks you're a total weirdo for what you did" so I did feel like it was a little bit of a stretch to think God's spirit was moving in me but either way, Michelle & our interaction wasn't leaving my mind. So I thought well maybe if she doesn't feel like she could call... I'll text her first to be safe. So I did text her & offered to meet for lunch the next day [today]. & we made lunch plans & I was really excited lol Something in me was telling me that this lunch was going to hold some significance & it totally did! So here comes part 2 lol
We meet for lunch & it's a tiny bit awkward at first because she's new & doesn't know her way around so I'm just leading her through & keeping our conversation light & friendly. We get food & sit down & she's been periodically expressing gratitude for what I did the day before & I could totally tell how much it had meant to her & dude, I was just grateful for that - that God could use me to comfort her at that time, I mean that was huge. I mean I really felt like God was working in our conversation & interaction & even just leading us to meet one another. I totally believed that but at the same time I felt like I had to be cautious in expressing that just in case she wasn't a believer & could potentially be turned off by it or whatever so I figured I wouldn't pressure it & just hoped that God would guide the conversation & have it unfold as it's supposed to.
Our conversation went all over the place. But as it turns out, Michelle was raised Catholic & went to Catholic all-girls schools all her life. However, I noticed that she wasn't very confident in expressing the fact that she was Catholic so I probed at it a little bit & surely enough she didn't feel she had a strong faith - she said she felt like it was just all forced on her & so her heart wasn't really in it. I shared with her about my Catholic background & how I abandoned my faith... & then I shared about how I was now Christian though & everything's worked out for the better. & she seemed really interested in that. She asked questions & I told her my testimony & she was really surprised - not just by the events leading me up to my conversion but also that I willingly chose what to convert to [which totally made sense seeing how religion was more or less forced upon her].
So I shared with her how I felt & how I believed God brought us together not just to meet but so I could comfort her & I think she believed it too :) She asked more questions about my faith & I shared as effectively as I could. Unfortunately class cut our conversation shorter than we both would have liked but hopefully I'll meet up with her again soon ^_^ I'm just way excited to see God moving & working in my life & blessing my days with these sorts of events & interactions. It's totally amazing ^_^ So yeah, that's my story. I just feel so encouraged & inspired by Michelle & her openness & gratitude. I just pray that God continues to bless our friendship & that the plans he has for us unfold as they should in his way & his time :D
Thanks for reading ^_^
In His Love,
Jess
So yesterday was my first day of classes. At one point in the day I had an hour break between classes, had already lunched & was at a loss of what I should do. So I called my mom & sat on a bench in front of the building I had my next class in. We had a pretty heavy conversation going for quite some time but at some point, a girl sat on a bench in front of me & she too appeared to be in deep conversation. I really didn't think much of it at the time.
Anyway, we're both talking on the phone for like 20 minutes when I notice that she was crying. My heart immediately went out to her & I wanted to comfort her but I was torn because I was in conversation, she was in conversation & let's just be honest here - if a random stranger came up to me while I was crying on the phone, I would probably feel somewhat embarrassed & just want that person to go away. At the same time though, she was crying right there in front of me & a tugging feeling in me really drew me to her. Psalms 23 has been on my heart this week as well at the idea of our Lord as a comforter among other things & I think I knew in me somehow that with this theme of comfort, there was really a calling for me to reach out & comfort this girl.
2:50ish rolls around & I have class at 3pm so I call the convo quits with my mom & astonishingly enough, the girl gets off the phone at about the same time. I seized the opportunity to jump in & ask if she was okay & she explained that she just wasn't having a good day. So I offered to walk her to class & found out that she was a spring admit & wasn't even sure where her class was & I offered to show her where it was - ironically it was not only in the same building as mine but I had just had a class in the same room an hour before. What are the odds right? Anyway, right before we both had to bolt to class I offered my number to her & let her know that I hoped her day got better & to feel free to contact me if she wanted to talk. She seemed really grateful & she gave me her number too & we went along on our merry ways.
I had Michelle on my mind quite a few times throughout the rest of my day. Because I normally don't just do things like that - randomly reach out to people or at least I didn't used to lol it never ceases to astonish people when I tell them I used to be an angsty, antisocial, cynical grump in high school. I know now I'm all bubbley & smiley & out there so I guess it's just hard for people to imagine how I was lol but anyway, Michelle was on my mind & I came to the conclusion that God, our great comforter, was working through me to comfort Michelle in her time of need. Now at the same time I was like, "Jessica, get a grip. You talked to this girl for like 5 minutes & who knows? She might not even call you. Maybe she just thinks you're a total weirdo for what you did" so I did feel like it was a little bit of a stretch to think God's spirit was moving in me but either way, Michelle & our interaction wasn't leaving my mind. So I thought well maybe if she doesn't feel like she could call... I'll text her first to be safe. So I did text her & offered to meet for lunch the next day [today]. & we made lunch plans & I was really excited lol Something in me was telling me that this lunch was going to hold some significance & it totally did! So here comes part 2 lol
We meet for lunch & it's a tiny bit awkward at first because she's new & doesn't know her way around so I'm just leading her through & keeping our conversation light & friendly. We get food & sit down & she's been periodically expressing gratitude for what I did the day before & I could totally tell how much it had meant to her & dude, I was just grateful for that - that God could use me to comfort her at that time, I mean that was huge. I mean I really felt like God was working in our conversation & interaction & even just leading us to meet one another. I totally believed that but at the same time I felt like I had to be cautious in expressing that just in case she wasn't a believer & could potentially be turned off by it or whatever so I figured I wouldn't pressure it & just hoped that God would guide the conversation & have it unfold as it's supposed to.
Our conversation went all over the place. But as it turns out, Michelle was raised Catholic & went to Catholic all-girls schools all her life. However, I noticed that she wasn't very confident in expressing the fact that she was Catholic so I probed at it a little bit & surely enough she didn't feel she had a strong faith - she said she felt like it was just all forced on her & so her heart wasn't really in it. I shared with her about my Catholic background & how I abandoned my faith... & then I shared about how I was now Christian though & everything's worked out for the better. & she seemed really interested in that. She asked questions & I told her my testimony & she was really surprised - not just by the events leading me up to my conversion but also that I willingly chose what to convert to [which totally made sense seeing how religion was more or less forced upon her].
So I shared with her how I felt & how I believed God brought us together not just to meet but so I could comfort her & I think she believed it too :) She asked more questions about my faith & I shared as effectively as I could. Unfortunately class cut our conversation shorter than we both would have liked but hopefully I'll meet up with her again soon ^_^ I'm just way excited to see God moving & working in my life & blessing my days with these sorts of events & interactions. It's totally amazing ^_^ So yeah, that's my story. I just feel so encouraged & inspired by Michelle & her openness & gratitude. I just pray that God continues to bless our friendship & that the plans he has for us unfold as they should in his way & his time :D
Thanks for reading ^_^
In His Love,
Jess