BE SOMEONE'S BOAT

Four days ago, I saved a life in the Dollar General parking lot. It was just a regular day. I had been on a chocolate chip pancake kick and was out of chocolate chips. We laugh about how the closest gas station to your house has seen you at your worst. Well, for me, this Dollar General is my gas station. I had the ultimate case of bed head, my shirt was inside out, and I was wearing cheetah pajama pants. I’m telling you this because when you least expect it is when God will use you.

Grandma was snoring the night before and I didn’t get any sleep. If I’m being honest, I really haven’t gotten any sleep since May. It was morning and as always, I was asking God to give me strength to get through another day. I was asking him to help me get my heart posture right. Help me fix my mindset. Looking back to where I started, and where I am now, I can’t even fathom how I am getting through this season. The only explanation is through the supernatural strength of Jesus Christ.

I was tired and hungry. Yes, if we must say it, hangry. We all know what this means. I pull into the parking lot and I see a woman sitting on the side of Dollar General. Immediately, I knew God wanted me to go over there. The pull of the holy spirit was so strong that I had no choice. I didn’t even have time to think myself out of it, I just started walking towards her. I remember thinking: “She’s one of the workers here and she’s just on her smoke break. Let’s just turn around and go back in.” BUT NO. God had other plans.

Ten awkward cheetah pajama steps later, me being me, “Hey Girl.” I explained to her that I wanted to make sure she was okay and that I felt God led me to her. I didn’t expect anything really but what happened took me by surprise. She covered her eyes, put her head in her hands, and started to bawl. There’s crying but then there’s sobbing. She was sobbing; tears were streaming and she was crying out. I didn’t know her story yet, but I knew this was the work of the Holy Spirit. I felt her pain resonate through my body so strongly that it had brought me to tears myself.

For the sake of her privacy, I will keep it short. A single mother of five feeling at her wits end. She couldn’t believe it. This woman told me that she had just finished asking God for help. For a sign that she could trust and believe in him again. That he is with her and he didn’t forsake her. Minutes later… I showed up. As an outsider, people probably looked at us like we were out of our minds. But we were both crying because the love of God is that strong. Two broken women, leaning on one another, holding onto the hope of the prayer we prayed.

We exchanged numbers because I felt like our story wasn’t finished just yet. A day later I received a text that changed my heart forever. She told me that she had been suicidal in the past and those thoughts had been creeping back in. The text that brings goosebumps to my arms every time I read it: “You changed my way of thinking for today and that’s all I needed. I needed to be redirected.” Not only did I save her life, but she saved mine. She reminded me what the true purpose of following Jesus is. The true purpose of following Jesus is to bring the broken hearted home.

For the first time in over a year, she came to church with me last Sunday. I told her to mind her business during worship music when she sees me crying. (HAHA). All morning I prayed to God to work in her heart. To bring her home to him. In the pastor’s message, he describes a story about two men. The one man was drowning and the other one was trying to save him with his boat. It was up to the man drowning if he wanted to stay in the water or find the strength to get up. After service, this lovely woman looked straight in my eyes and said: “You are my boat. You rescued me from drowning. It’s up to me now to keep going.” Talk about pulling on a person’s heart strings.

Beauty was found in the Dollar General Parking lot. An unexpected friend was found in unexpected circumstances. It all started and ended with Jesus. We connect with others through brokenness. God seeks the lost and loves the hopeless. It is in our brokenness where we find Jesus and he fits all the pieces back together. There is hope in a new life because of Jesus’s blood. We are all imperfect but God’s ways are perfect. This story inspires me and makes me wonder. What other beauty can we stir up in the hearts of the people around us by a simple “Hello.”

I’m looking for some people that want to be crazy with me. I’m looking for some people who are ready to be bold with me. I’m looking for someone who wants to go out there with me and bring the broken home. God is using me to shine my light into other’s darkness. The irony of this entire story is that it started with a simple hello. I needed a picture for this blog post so I decided to go back to the place where it all started. I looked at the wall above where we were sitting, and there was a “hi” spray painted above our spot. Talk about God in the details.

“I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you.” Isaiah 43:2.