Divine Appointment Day

This has been such an incredible day. Seriously, I can’t remember a day I’ve had quite like this. And I don’t just mean incredible as amazing and good, which was part of it, but really, incredible, like days like this just don’t happen all the time.

I woke up early so I could head down to summer interns which I’ve been helping out with this week. I’ve got a smoothie in one hand, (I’ve been on a smoothie fetish lately and have been making them for breakfast almost every day) and the wheel in the other, and I’m thinking about the day, and how we’re going evangelizing for practicum, and I start to think about how I haven’t evangelized in such a long time, and it’s something that’s been on my heart lately, especially with Pastor Jerry preaching on it the last few weeks. So I’m praying and I say, “God, I really want to lead someone to the Lord today. I know I can do it, I know you desire it, so please Lord, can you help me? I REALLY REALLY want to lead someone to You.”

Then, as I take a drink of my smoothie, I proceed to spill a chunk of my breakfast down my shirt. I’m 15 minutes away from my home, and I have 15 minutes to get there. But of course I have to turn around because purple stains don’t really blend well with pink tanks.

On my way home I remember that I still need to reapply for Palomar, and since I’m going to be late anyway, I might as well get that over with. So I set my lap top up in my kitchen and in the middle of my app., my mom comes in and says, “Oh good you’re home. Before you leave can you please do the dishes.” I obediently reply yes, and then she says, “and don’t leave till you clean your room.” (Which of course is a disaster right now because we are adopting my cousin and we’ve been trying to get my room all situated so she can move in.) I admit I tensed a little because I really want to go, but God has forgiven me, so please, mercy;)

So, I start on the dishes, and then my room, and my grandparents come over. Now, my grandpa used to teach at Palomar, (the man’s a genius in case you were wondering) and I have a question about the catalog. Of course, he takes a seat and for HALF AN HOUR looks VERY CAREFULLY through catalog and shows me all the best classes I should and need to take. (I really am grateful, I needed the help, but you do see how this morning is going so far, right?)

When he’s done, and my grandparents start to walk out the door, Mema, (grandma) turns and says, “Oh, I got a thing in the mail that says your cell contract is about to expire. You need to go to Cingular and get that renewed.” I smile and wave good bye, than go to my room to finally change my shirt, and head out the door to Cingular.

Now Cingular is not a busy place, but there was a woman there before me, and I had to wait 10 minutes for her to finish up with the desk guy before he could see me. Turns out, I don’t have to, and can’t renew my contract till sept. 11, and that of course only took 20 seconds to tell me, even though it took 10 minutes to get to me.

I finally get to interns at 12, (it started at 9) just in time for lunch and evangelism. My group chooses to go to the mall, and where we will pass out 80 GC touch cards and get someone saved. I was nervous at first, because like I said, I haven’t gone evangelizing in such a long time, but the whole day ended up being super fun. I talked to a lot of people, and it really is easy. Not one person responded with attitude or tried to get away or anything.

A couple cute stories, I ran into two families from our church, both of which have 7 kids, and we were all talking together for a while. Well, that night at GC, someone came up to me and said, “Jael, I heard you preached to like, 14 kids at one at the mall.” (Remember, there were about 7 or 8 of us there from interns) so someone saw me chatting with these two large families from our church, got the wrong impression, and started spreading around church that I’m crazy preacher evangelist woman! (Which is true, but still, you get the point.) I laughed when he told me and cleared it up. Still, it’s a cool thought. We all have that potential. There are people out there that can just draw crowds to them like that, preach the Gospel, and get them all saved. I want to be that person.

So, later on, I went up to this girl, and she was crazy looking. Tattoos down her neck, arms and hands, 3 barbells in her chin, and short spiky black hair. I struck up a conversation, then asked her if she went to church any where. She smiles and says, I just moved here so I don’t have a church yet, but I used to go to Calvary where I lived. I was taken back a little. I hadn’t been expecting that at all. It’s funny how we really do judge a book by it’s cover. I assumed that she wasn’t a Christian because of how she looked, but God can save anyone, do anything with any person, and He wants to use all different kinds of people. I mean, this girl could reach out to a whole world of people we’ve never touched or understood. So, pray Carrie into our church. She’s got a touch card!

Then, I ended up running into 3 of my best friends from high school, that I don’t talk to much anymore, plus one other guy I know, plus the two families from our church. It was seriously divine appointment day, which I’ve been praying for a while for, but the day is not over yet.

I go back to Ramona to pick up kids, and we’ve got a few first timers in the van, and then at GC, a girl I had invited last night had showed up without telling me she was coming, and during alter, I get an amazing and specific word from Pastor Paige, AND THEN, when I get back to Ramona, in the Ramona Van, there’s two boys that have to walk home, so I offer to drive them home. They fight me on it for a while, but I win, of course. On the way home, I asked the boys if they were Christians (both of them were 1st timers). One says yes, (but I’m not sure he really understands,) the other said he was baptized Mormon. He then tells me that he never really goes to his church, but he loved our church. I asked him if he’d felt God’s presence, and he goes, “YEAH!” really excited and sure of it. So I ask him if he wants to be a Christian. (Remember that little prayer I’d prayed that morning?) He says, “YEAH!” After I get over the immediate shock I’d felt, (I think I need to raise my expectation a bit) I ask him to pray the sinners prayer with me. He prays, and when he gets out of my car, I turn around to tell him not to listen to his music tonight and to just pray, and I look at his face, and this kid whose looked miserable and attacked all night long has this huge smile on his face! God is SOOOOO stinking amazing. He’s always working. Even when we don’t realize it, He’s doing something. I mean, He’s had to be working on this kid for a while, because it was so easy. I just asked, and he said yes. He’s going the bonfire today, so he’ll get some more mentoring. Scott’s going to talk to him and explain what being a Christian really means.

I’m so stinking excited about what God is doing in Ramona. It seemed like we’d been forgotten for a little while there, but I think God’s here. He’s shown up, and He’s got big plans for this city. We are a city on a hill that can’t be hidden, (even if we’re not on the map;).

Joanna and I start our girls cell next Monday!!!! Woo Hoo!!!! Please keep us in your prayers. God’s going to do big things with these girls, and call them into purity and into their destinies.