June 13, 2011 - Day 29

"Faith means living with uncertainty- feeling your way through life, letting your heart guide you like a lantern in the dark." - Dan Millman

"The past is history, the future is a mystery but right now is a gift. That's why they call it the present."

     You never know where life may take you. You never know what may happen the next week, day, hour, minute. Life takes drastic turns. And fast. That's what happened to me and will continue to happen because guess what? That's life. This past weekend my life took a huge emotional turn. I thought for the worse, but in the end it was for the better. Today in the morning I did not want to get up. I wanted to stay asleep and refuse to talk to anyone. I forced myself out of bed and man, I am so happy I did.

     We decided to walk the streets for a few hours. We went up to Peachtree and Pine and saw Moe. While we were talking to Moe we saw Shamar. He was clean cut, new haircut and all! We all complimented him and you new he felt so proud and happy for himself- we were! We also knew he was paying attention to our conversation because he smiled.. and that was step 1 to make my day better.

     Step 2: We talked to Moe. Out of nowhere he hands us $5. Out of nowhere. Why? Because he wanted to bless us like we had been blessing him the last few days. He wanted us to buy ourselves a soda and he was even gonna give us change for the tax. We told him how he has blessed us that day and he just repeated himself in saying that we've helped improve his life for the better. He's working now and whenever he's not at Retreat... he's at work. He loves it and hopes to continue. I pray that he remains happy and following the path he's meant to follow. I also pray that we can continue to be lights to people who live in darkness, even when we don't even know when we are shining. I told Moe how he helped make my day and he smiled. :)

     Step 3: As soon as we finished talking to Moe, Angel came up and asked me if I could buy her a soda. What luck right? Of course I said yes and I bought her two. Now, Angel leads a rough life. Her entire life she's been in prostitution and for her to talk to people says a lot because she keeps to herself- I mean put yourself in her shoes. I loved being able to buy her a soda and knew that helped make her day (like she was making mine). I knew that I was able to show her true affection even if it was just through a carbonated beverage. 

     Step 4: I met new friends. Kenny- the guy I bought soda from. He's cool. Then Carwash. We talked about all our lives! He told me how I should be thankful for my parents and tell them I love them so much. I wanted to call mi mama y papa right there. (I love you guys so much!!!) I talked to him about my mom and he gave me a booklet to give to her and to give her a big ol' hug from Carwash, to my sister too haha. He said to appreciated my father since he works out of state. To always love him and treat him well ( love ya daddy!). This just helped make my day because it helped me value my life and be thankful for it. Gosh I am so fortunate. Carwash then told me his story and his broken relationship with his family- but he still loves 'em anyways. That's awesome right there.

     Step 5: Met 2 new homeless guys. James and Brandon. I mainly talked to James and for some reason he new my life... like literally inside and out. It was kinda creepy but dang, it was like God was speaking right through him!! He said that I should be focused on getting my relationship with God closer and to value what I have and what I lost. I knew that everything that was going on with me today were all signs from God- His signs for comforting me, loving me, and thanking me that I forced myself out of bed to make new friends and to have them affect my life.... Because they did.

     Later that night we went to Rescue Atlanta to meet our new mission teams. They are so amazing! Love them both! Got to talk to many of them and can't wait for what tomorrow will bring :)

God is good, we just gotta keep trusting Him.

Jenny Sample