The Oasis Motel

It's amazing when you choose to be obedient....

So my latest adventure brought me to the Oasis Motel...  not a place that I had ever been before, but I now have fond memories of that small motel with the neon sign.

A group of friends and I began meeting on Friday nights to get together with the intent of being God's hands and feet.  So, last night we met at Vijay's apartment and prayed together for a while.  We sat in God's presence for a good while just "soaking" in his peace.  Then after a while we piled in a car and headed to downtown, the area we felt we were supposed to go. We prayed that God would lead us to exactly who He wanted.  We drove around downtown a little bit and ended up parking at the Day Center for the homeless.  There weren't many people there, but we parked and got out.

 We came upon three people just standing outside and they did not look like they wanted to talk, but Vijay introduced himself and asked what they were doing.  I offered some homeade brownies that I had made, but they declined.  We quickly found out that this was a family and they told us they were in "transition" and they also warmed up to us when they realized we just wanted to help.  They eventually ate some of the brownies and shared their full story.  Their 13 year old daughter was standing there with them and we found at that she just got registered for school at Central.  My heart went out to Caitlin.  I can't imagine so much uncertainty for a 13 year old.

I have to admit that once I heard their story and saw them at their vulnerable state, all my defenses came down too.  I wanted to help, really help.  All week I had that scripture in my head, "Lord, when did I give you something to eat?  When you gave it unto the least of these, you gave to me".  I felt like I had heard God say all week to me, "Melissa, love me.  Feed me, clothe me."

So, we found out that this family's greatest need was formula for their babies.  They had two little babies, Caleb and Alexis. They were 1 yr old twins.  We got to see them.  It's so hard to take a step back and look at this family standing on the curb of the day center with about 7 duffle bags full of stuff. .. It was all they had.  They weren't allowed to stay at the homeless shelter because you are only allowed to have one bag per person.  So, when we encountered Creed and Karis they were waiting for a ride because they were going to get a cheap motel that night.  They had found a ride with someone who had an SUV to carry all their stuff and take them to their motel.

We met the family at their motel and prayed with them and met a small need of formula for the babies.  The family was just completely overwhelmed and encouraged, and so were we.   I love just being open to God and allowing Him to use us in any way.  I pray that this beautiful family is taken care of in every way.  We heard more about their plans and I pray that their future is secure...  and with God I believe it will be.

Full of Surprises

Today has been a beautiful day.  It was one of those days that was full of surprises... the kind of surprises that bring such joy to your heart.

I was asked by one of my old professors to speak to his class.  I was honored that he would ask me.  So, today was the day.  I was able to wrap up things nicely at work and move on... then I received the phone call that I was going to get a rental car [surprise #1]... (this was a true blessing b/c a lady wrecked my car a week ago when she wasn't paying attention).  I have been without a car of my own for a week.  So, this was good news.

As I was driving over to my old University I was praying and thinking about what I needed to share with them.  I thought about what stuck out to me the most when I was at school...  and I remember that one of my favorite parts of sitting in class at ORU was when the professors would speak vision and believe in us to change the world... and they gave practical examples.

So, I was excited to share with this class.  I am not used to speaking in front of groups of people... sometimes I do great, other times I bomb it... but today went surprisingly good.  The students seemed to be engaged, but more than anything I was excited that I didn't get nervous and I was fully myself.  I passionately spoke about what God has placed in my heart.

I love serving the Almighty God who loves us and has a "New Earth" in store for us someday.  I can't wait to see it and be a part of it.  But, in the mean time, I look forward to bringing his Kingdom to this earth.  Come Lord Jesus, come.  And help us to be ready.

So... after my great and humbling experience (humbling because the class graciously prayed over me when I was done talking) [surprise #2] in sharing my journey with the students thus far, I drove by a fellow RA on campus who I served with in the program.  I honked obnoxiously until we both got out on some side road to find out that we were both at school for the same reason...  so we then went out for smoothies since we both had a couple hours to spare.  [surprise #3]

I was super encouraged by our conversation.  This woman of God has entered into the army and is leading so many to the Lord.  Her shining light of purity is evident for all to see and I know that she is impacting lives for the kingdom.  Her life is such a blessing to me.

SIDE NOTE: You have no idea who you are encouraging with your life, by simply living for God unashamedly.  This beautiful friend of mine is such an encouragement because she is living her life in fear of God.  She boldly stands for purity in a place where so many don't understand why she chooses to honor God.... but its so worth it.   ::Keep it up Christie!!!!!::

So, then I am waiting on a ride from the rental car company to pick me up and guess who comes to my rescue from the heat... yeah, thats right, the lady picking me up from the rental car company happens to be a good friend of mine who served with me on a missions trip with the 8th grade girls this past spring break.  I was SOO excited to see her behind the wheel.  [Surprise #4 ]

After my smoothie chat with Christie I ran home to get ready for a wedding.  (Which I will note I got ready in record time).  The wedding was beautiful, complete with a surprise music video for the groom. The groom wept as his new wife sang to him and poured out her love.  It was precious.

At the wedding I ran into a lady who works in the same office building as me.  We talked about the LSAT and she informed me that she was also planning to take it in December.  She suggested we study together, which I thought was a good idea.   But... have you ever met someone and thought, I wonder if we could be study buddies.  I mean.... is this lady out of my league, or what.  Well, it turns out in this case that she is WAY OUT OF MY LEAGUE!!!  She confessed that she scored in the 97th percentile on the test when she took it years ago, and recently she was upset because she took it and she only made it into the 88th percentile.  I was shocked.  I would love to have that score.

THEN...  she proceeds to tell me that she actually used to teach the test!!!  I couldn't believe it!  She is an  incredibly resource! [surprise #5]  All I can say is WOW God!  haha, I love your ways!  Here's to a happy girl!  I am overwhelmed by God's goodness.

This week I truly questioned my future and what I needed to do, but daily God has confirmed for me that I am doing what he wants me to.  ::Sigh::

I looked around all day and thought to myself, if God ever takes me away from this City I will truly miss it and all the wonderful people in it.  I absolutely love running into people I know especially when there are half of a million people in the city, and it happens SO often!  I mean what are the odds that I go throughout my day not planning to see anyone I really know and I run into SO many good friends. :)  Loving life.  Thank you God.