

Here we were on the street: a little 4'8" bald headed white guy dressed funny and a 5'10" heavy-set black woman hugging each other as cars whizzed by and people looked on. Neither one of us cared a lick. I knew Christ, she knew Christ but more importantly...He knows us.
I love to pray for people as I walk; so many people and so many different issues. Some ask for healing of their grandpa from cancer, others ask for a touch of God upon their handicapped child. I always feel a twinge of sadness in my heart and a certain sense of gratitude as I quietly thank God thatThis prayer request was different though. This one touched me and troubled me. It touched me because my own family is fragmented. It troubled me because family divisiveness is avoidable and correctable. Conflict in the family is almost always a matter of pride. We don't understand each other and we're too proud to ask for clarification. We have expectations that are never expressed and yet when they're not met...we're hurt. We have unrealistic views of what a family should look like and how "it" should act.
Friends are people we choose to have in our life. Family are people who are involved in our life through adoption, birth or marriage. Once you're family...you're family forever. Surely, we can put aside our pride for a moment and get along to share a meal or a holiday. Surely, we can pray that God bless our family (even the ones who push our buttons) with His best. If we can't stand to be with "that woman" for an hour, surely we could be nice for twenty minutes and casually her presence.
God whispered to me as I walked today, "Nick, make an effort to be your best, regardless of response. Time is fleeting and life is precious."
Thursday morning, quicker than you can say "Blackberry cobbler," we were in
Lucyah had parked at an Ingles supermarket and the manager and a cashier came out to investigate. She was able to share about our walk for Christ, praying for
As I walked through town a bit, a man came out of his trailer and approached me on the side of the road. “I’m mentally ill,” he said. His hands were behind his back and there was fast moving traffic behind me. In less than five seconds, all kinds of scenarios came into my mind. What if he was holding a hammer? What if he pushed me into the traffic?I asked him why he thought he was mentally ill. “The doctors said so. I’m schizophrenic and bi-polar.” “Do you take any meds?” I asked. “No. I hear voices.” Do they tell you to do bad things?” “No. Not bad things.” Do you know Jesus?” “Yes, I do.” We continued to talk about the healing of the Lord and after a few minutes of mentioning the name of Jesus, my friend abruptly left.
Finally, our walking day ended and we returned to the day. Pastor Russ and his youth pastor Travis were very gracious, open and curious. Sunday morning was a salute to the graduates …high school and college…so they invited us to present Zacchaeus to their congregation on Sunday night. Woo-Hoo! We always get a thrill when a pastor who never met us before steps out in faith and invites us in! God is always looking to bless a man like that!
In the town of
These are the people of
You need to take the first step. When trying to connect with people we’ve never met before, you can simply ask a question. We use what we call the Indian technique…that’s right… we simply ask “How.” How long have you lived here? How did you learn to do that? How did you come up with that idea?
Try it….you’ll make new friends and …so will they!