I was all geared up to write a post after everyone left the church tonight, but there was a great deal of people tonight requesting to talk with me, more than usual actually. As embarrassing as it is, my first thought was how I needed to hurry up and get to a computer so that I could post before midnight (in accordance with strict "Blog A Day" guidelines, of course), but God worked on my heart in a way only He seems to be able to do.
I immediately thought of a story our youth pastor told years ago about when he was driving to church for youth group and saw a woman stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire and a confused expression. He considered stopping to help her, but decided not to because he needed to get to church. When it came time for the brief teaching time that was customary of our Wednesday gatherings, I remember his solemn countenance as he shared his short story about the woman he saw on his way to church. "God calls us to serve outside the confines of our schedules" I remember him saying, even if that is nowhere close to the words he used. "We need to be always ready, and always willing".
I ended up having a number remarkable conversations tonight -the kind of conversations that encourage and challenge you without that person even intending them to do so. The type of raw, honest, almost organic exchange that reminds you that your world is not the world -that God is far more present than you could ever imagine or grasp.
Sit and have a conversation you didn't plan on having, take the long way to work, stop texting and ask that person to have coffee, observe those who seem disconnected and show them love. We can minister in such small ways every day.
I am so blessed to have these incredible pilgrims with me on this journey. I hope and pray that God continues to remind me of the sanctity of the spontaneous, and the beauty of the impromptu. His Spirit is at work among us already. May we pray to come along for the ride.
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