How Freaking Cool is God?!

This story starts back when I was in Louisiana working with Samaritan’s Purse. The building we were sleeping in for the two weeks was a church building, so we had the opportunity to go to the church service on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. The first Sunday, Catherine and I decided to drive two hours to go visit with a friend from the race who lives in LA.

The following Sunday we were also planning on going somewhere fun, but issues with my car had us stuck at the church. We decided to go to service since we couldn’t go explore. Right before the service started, the pastor came by where all us volunteers were sitting to thank us for the way we were serving the community in DeRidder. 

After the service was over, I was standing outside the church talking with another volunteer when the pastor came by and started waving us inside. He said, “C’mon.. come come come inside.” I looked at Kate, because I was confused and had no idea why he wanted us to follow him inside. We followed him and he brought us to the church bookstore and said he wanted all of us to take something for free as a way of saying thank you. 

Immediately I felt the Lord say “Get a Bible that you’ll take with you on the Race and I’ll tell you who it’s for.” WOW! Okay God. That’s cool. I was so eager to find out who I would be giving the Bible to. I was excited to tell whoever it was that God knows their name and was planning good things for them through me all the way in the states. 

This story now brings us to debrief. One of the nights, we invited quite a few people at the hostel into worshipping with us. One guy who was singing with us, was sitting near me and weeping. Holy Spirit was doing something in his heart and I was filled with compassion for him. I asked him if I could pray for him and he said “please.” After I prayed he smiled and said “thank you, thank you so much.” Every time I saw him after that night he would thank me again and smile. 

I told a squad-mate that I was thinking about giving the Bible to him. I kept thinking about the way he was weeping during worship and I wanted him to really know and feel God’s love for him. I wasn’t fully sure though if God was telling me to give it to him or if it was my empathetic heart wanting to give it to him. Well, the next time I saw him, without even thinking, the first thing that  came out of my mouth was “Hey! I have something for you!” That was enough confirmation for me to give it to him. 

I ran to my room to grab the bible, came back and wrote the date and his name in it. I told him how I had gotten it for free from a pastor in LA and that immediately when I got it, God told me it was for someone somewhere around the world and that person is him. The BIGGEST smile crept onto his face as he started thanking me. He put it in his bag and said he would always keep it close. 

This story brings me joy because it reminds me that God really does see us. No matter where you are, no matter what you’re going through, God sees you and He’s with you. Also, you never know.. He may be moving in someone else’s life miles and miles away so that when you meet them you can experience His love in a new way. He sees you. He knows your name. He loves you. Never forget that. 

Blessings, 

Kaci