Send ME T-shirt and Waffle House employees...
Okay guys, we had an incredible night last night, and I just thought I
would share with you a pretty amazing God story. Last night, or I
should say this morning at 1am, me and my roomate took a trip to Waffle
House a couple minutes up the road. We got there and all the Waffle
House employees were piled in a booth and surrounding chairs. We pass
by them and this lady says "Hey, SEND ME where"? I had on my Urban
Plunge shirt from a couple of years back. I laughed and said "Wherever
God wants me to go". She then said, "that's awesome, I believe the
Bible and more people should, too" . I was tired and didn't think much
of it, because I do get that reaction a lot to the shirt.
Anyways, Brandy(my roomie) and I were beginning our dinner when this
lady pulls up a chair and beckons here friend over to us, (By the way,
the lady's name was Brandie and the girl she was calling over was named
Cynthia). Brandie called Cynthia over to us and proceeded to tell us
how Cynthia didn't believe the Bible, and asked us to convince Cynthia
that Jesus was real and the Bible was true. What's running through my
mind is... Oh my gosh, Cynthia is going to be really embarresed... what
in the world does Brandie expect us to do?! I don't want her to feel
pounced on... etc...but it wasn't that way at all. Cynthia was very
open to what we thought and also held the thought that if she came to
believe this Christianity thing that she would become judgemental and
that she would be judging all other religions... etc. She also believed
the Bible contradicted itself, but you could tell she was just
repeating what others had told her, in particular another girl that
worked with her. We just began sharing with her, and counteracting all
she was saying in a really loving way. By the end of the conversation
the whole Waffle House staff was gathered around the table listening to
us talk about Jesus. Some would chime in their opinion, but what was
amazing was two of the Waffle House staff were incredibly broken over
Cynthia's lostness. Cynthia had apparently been raped, suffered from
depression and despite all her efforts to look like she had all her
beliefs in order was obviously still searching. On top of the whole
Waffle House staff listening to us share Jesus, the booth behind us was
completly silent and the rest of Waffle House was listening too. The
couple behind us left and said to Brandie, "don't give up on her!"
After our time with Cynthia, Brandie began sharing with us her story
which included Drugs, Jail for killing her brother's rapist, a house
burned down, her one year old child dying and so many other
circumstances. All the while she says at the end, "I can't stand when
people don't believe in MY God. It makes me sad and angry, because I
know what He did for me. I had it far worse than anyone else, and if
anyone has a right not to believe... its me." It was comic, because
all the time she's sharing this, she has a cigarette in hand and an
occasional "damn" would slip out. Its funny though, because we saw
God's grace in her and the fact that she evidently had an intimate
relationship with Him. We also saw how God was using her to share Him
with everyone that came in. She was most definatly a little rough
around the edges, a ragamuffin so to speak (But aren't we all?!!
Its interesting, because Brandy, my roomate, had prayed that morning
that God would break her heart for lost people and open her eyes. God
most definatly did, there are people all around us that are hurting,
and all we have to do is be willing to share at anytime. Who knew we
would find fellowship, and an opportunity to share the gospel in a
Waffle House?! On top of that, today in Guitar Center, we got to hang
out with three of the employees and tell them what we are doing for the
summer. (They promised to lower the action on my guitar for free!!). I
geuss my encouragement to all of you, and God's challenge to me through
all of this... is that we truly are Christ's ambassadors, 24 hours a
day. When we go to O'Charley's... sit down in a cofee shop or play a
BEAUTIFUL Taylor guitar at Guitar Center... if we are willing and will
open our eyes God's going to provide opportunities to build
relationships in our communities and hopefully, eventually share the
reason for our Hope!! INCREDIBLE!!
I forgot to say that we are going back to Waffle House soon to hang out
with the staff there, so if you think about us, pray that God would
continue to open people's hearts there and that he woudl use Brandie,
the Waffle House employee, to share His love with the people there. I
hope this all made sense... there are so many incredible God details to
the past two days, ask me about them when I talk to you guys. I pray
that God is growing you in this summer and that God is growing your
heart to be more and more like His. Our God's incredible!
Melissa
would share with you a pretty amazing God story. Last night, or I
should say this morning at 1am, me and my roomate took a trip to Waffle
House a couple minutes up the road. We got there and all the Waffle
House employees were piled in a booth and surrounding chairs. We pass
by them and this lady says "Hey, SEND ME where"? I had on my Urban
Plunge shirt from a couple of years back. I laughed and said "Wherever
God wants me to go". She then said, "that's awesome, I believe the
Bible and more people should, too" . I was tired and didn't think much
of it, because I do get that reaction a lot to the shirt.
Anyways, Brandy(my roomie) and I were beginning our dinner when this
lady pulls up a chair and beckons here friend over to us, (By the way,
the lady's name was Brandie and the girl she was calling over was named
Cynthia). Brandie called Cynthia over to us and proceeded to tell us
how Cynthia didn't believe the Bible, and asked us to convince Cynthia
that Jesus was real and the Bible was true. What's running through my
mind is... Oh my gosh, Cynthia is going to be really embarresed... what
in the world does Brandie expect us to do?! I don't want her to feel
pounced on... etc...but it wasn't that way at all. Cynthia was very
open to what we thought and also held the thought that if she came to
believe this Christianity thing that she would become judgemental and
that she would be judging all other religions... etc. She also believed
the Bible contradicted itself, but you could tell she was just
repeating what others had told her, in particular another girl that
worked with her. We just began sharing with her, and counteracting all
she was saying in a really loving way. By the end of the conversation
the whole Waffle House staff was gathered around the table listening to
us talk about Jesus. Some would chime in their opinion, but what was
amazing was two of the Waffle House staff were incredibly broken over
Cynthia's lostness. Cynthia had apparently been raped, suffered from
depression and despite all her efforts to look like she had all her
beliefs in order was obviously still searching. On top of the whole
Waffle House staff listening to us share Jesus, the booth behind us was
completly silent and the rest of Waffle House was listening too. The
couple behind us left and said to Brandie, "don't give up on her!"
After our time with Cynthia, Brandie began sharing with us her story
which included Drugs, Jail for killing her brother's rapist, a house
burned down, her one year old child dying and so many other
circumstances. All the while she says at the end, "I can't stand when
people don't believe in MY God. It makes me sad and angry, because I
know what He did for me. I had it far worse than anyone else, and if
anyone has a right not to believe... its me." It was comic, because
all the time she's sharing this, she has a cigarette in hand and an
occasional "damn" would slip out. Its funny though, because we saw
God's grace in her and the fact that she evidently had an intimate
relationship with Him. We also saw how God was using her to share Him
with everyone that came in. She was most definatly a little rough
around the edges, a ragamuffin so to speak (But aren't we all?!!
Its interesting, because Brandy, my roomate, had prayed that morning
that God would break her heart for lost people and open her eyes. God
most definatly did, there are people all around us that are hurting,
and all we have to do is be willing to share at anytime. Who knew we
would find fellowship, and an opportunity to share the gospel in a
Waffle House?! On top of that, today in Guitar Center, we got to hang
out with three of the employees and tell them what we are doing for the
summer. (They promised to lower the action on my guitar for free!!). I
geuss my encouragement to all of you, and God's challenge to me through
all of this... is that we truly are Christ's ambassadors, 24 hours a
day. When we go to O'Charley's... sit down in a cofee shop or play a
BEAUTIFUL Taylor guitar at Guitar Center... if we are willing and will
open our eyes God's going to provide opportunities to build
relationships in our communities and hopefully, eventually share the
reason for our Hope!! INCREDIBLE!!
I forgot to say that we are going back to Waffle House soon to hang out
with the staff there, so if you think about us, pray that God would
continue to open people's hearts there and that he woudl use Brandie,
the Waffle House employee, to share His love with the people there. I
hope this all made sense... there are so many incredible God details to
the past two days, ask me about them when I talk to you guys. I pray
that God is growing you in this summer and that God is growing your
heart to be more and more like His. Our God's incredible!
Melissa