Daily Check-in
Mission accomplished! Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. God was with us last night in a powerful way, and He really had His angels around me. I could feel the prayers yesterday afternoon when He saved me from a serious car accident. I was driving to a session with my counselor who has an office next to our church. A large white truck was speeding down an intersecting street. The driver ran a stop sign and came within an inch of crashing right into the driver’s side door of my small car. By the grace of God, I was able to swerve to the right while he slammed on the brakes and missed hitting me by literally an inch. If I survived that kind of impact, it would not have been pretty. Considering his high speed, I am so amazed that he was able to stop in time. I know without a doubt that God had angels watching over me. I specifically prayed over my car yesterday, and I am so glad I did. Needless to say, I was a little shaken by the time I arrived at my appointment. I shared an update on my life with my counselor, and we prayed together because we did not have time for a full session.
We went to the men’s club as planned. I prayed outside while the other girls delivered gift bags to the dancers and served them a huge tray of fresh fruit. We also blessed the women and children at a local emergency shelter for women and children who are breaking free from domestic violence. I went inside and was so blessed by a little boy who joyfully thanked us and told us how much he loves Jesus! He was so excited to receive presents. The children are not able to attend school during their stay for security reasons. The abusers could follow the children from school to the safe house. The women in this place just left desperate situations. It was a blessing to add a splash of joy to their Friday night.
I left my car at the shelter, and we all squeezed into a Suburban and drove to the area of town where the prostitutes work. It is an unseasonably cold weekend in Texas. It was in the high 30s, which is way too cold for Texas prostitutes. None of them were working last night. We prayed because we prepared these bags specifically for them. We drove around and could not find them. But God provided a way. We met a woman who knows where the prostitutes live. We delivered their gift bags to them! One of them shared with Emily that she is 12 weeks pregnant and wants to turn her life around. I got to hug one of them. She was so surprised and grateful. The living conditions are deplorable. It broke my heart to see women living in such poverty. I know where they live now, and it is close enough to my office that I can drive there and pray over the place on a regular basis. God really answered prayers last night because this was a safer environment to reach out to these women. We were not in the best part of town, but it was safer than the street corner where they work!
We learned that there were 4 women in a local homeless shelter last night and drove over there to bless them with the extra gift bags because we had enough for them. Two of our girls went inside to deliver them, and one of the men went with them. The other guy stayed in the car with us. We take a few men with us every year to drive us around from place to place and provide security for us. While we were waiting outside the shelter, we saw a group of homeless men on the front porch. They were very upset because it appeared that they would be left out in the cold all night, and they were hungry. The shelter is on a lottery system because there is only room for so many people every night. The three of us girls were crying over these hungry men and could not just sit there and do nothing. Jesus commands us to feed the hungry, and feed the hungry we did. The guy who stayed in the Suburban with us got out and took their orders. He asked them what they would order for dinner if they could have anything they desired, and he told them that God would feed them. We ordered a pizza for one and drove around to the grocery store and an assortment of fast food restaurants and picked up everything from pizza, fried chicken, biscuits, mashed potatoes, burgers, and fries to cookies, candy bars, Pop Tarts, and blue Powerade! By the time we returned, the front porch was empty. We prayed and realized that they unexpectedly got in for the night. That was actually an answer to our prayers because we did not want them to spend such a cold night outside, but we were hoping that they would be out there long enough to enjoy the meal we provided. The manager of the shelter is very hesitant to allow special food to be brought inside because fights break out over it. As we were making our purchases, I kept telling the group that we should buy extra in case anyone else showed up. We did, and I am so glad. The men who were with us were on the front porch talking to the manager, and he was not budging. We were praying fervently. We promised these men a special meal, and we did not want them to leave them with the impression that Christians would make a promise to them and not deliver. One of the men peeked outside the window and was so excited when he saw us. I think he was surprised that we really did what we said we would do.
After praying passionately, God gave us favor with the leadership. They invited us to come inside since we had enough to share with everyone in the shelter. We provided a Good Friday feast for these men, and they actually got to enjoy it in a warm and comfortable dining room instead of outside on the cold front porch. Everything we bought was unclean junk to me, but it was manna from heaven to these men. They were so delighted. The joy on their faces was priceless. Feeding these men was the highlight of the night for me. Just imagine how much you love and look forward to enjoying a meal at one of your favorite restaurants. Most of us take that for granted because it is so easy for us to get what we want when we want it. I was also once again humbled and amazed at how little it takes to bring joy to people who have nothing. Emily’s husband told these men that the sky was the limit when he asked what they wanted. We would have bought anything for them. They were not greedy, and their requests were so simple. One of the men asked for a chicken wing because he knew how expensive a chicken breast would be. (We bought a whole box of chicken breasts and wings for him!) We are rich to most of this world. It does not take a lot of time or money to make a difference in this world. Love changes hearts and lives. Love is the most excellent way.
All in all, my experience last night demonstrated to me one more time that is it so much more blessed to give than to receive! I would do this every week if I could. My heart is so full this morning, and my cup runneth over. God is good! Have a blessed Easter weekend.
Hugs to everyone. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, love, and support.
Blessings,
Heather B.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1 NIV).
