Odd but very moving

Today, we were in the grocery store. No wait, let me back up. I once read an account from either Beth Moore or Stormy Omartian about how she was in the airport and The Holy Spirit prompted her to get up and brush an old man in a wheelchair's hair. Sounds odd? Yes, it was and she argued with God about it for quite awhile. In the end, she bowed and did it. The happy ending was that the old man was going to get to see family, even his wife I think, and didn't have a brush. He cried he was so grateful. I'm sure her recount is much better than mine. But what stuck with me is at the time, I was BRAND new back into my Walk with Christ and I thought "NO WAY would God ever ask me to do something like that!"

Fast forward, I've had many promptings, not always followed up on, to say and do some WEIRD stuff. And unfortunately, I rarely get the satisfaction of knowing how it made the other person feel, although my hope is always better and closer to God. But that really isn't what it was about. And it wasn't about that today either.

I started reading, in prep for the Bible study I'm starting tomorrow on Ephesians, Chapter 1. I read and prayed this morning, several times over, the pray Paul says for the church--that the eyes of their hearts would be open to the hope we have in Christ (paraphrasing here). I prayed that for just about everyone I know but didn't really include myself. However, God took a prompting on a day when I am TERRIBLY emotional and TERRIBLY homesick, to show me again, no matter how low you go, He still wants to use you to reach out to people, not just for them, but for YOU.

Back to present day--we were in the grocery store. Both of my children are tired today and usually that makes for a BAAAAD day--noncompliance, yelling, fits, etc. Today was different probably due to divine intervention & protection. As we were shopping, we passed a woman who was mentally challenged. She smiled at us and looked right into my eyes. All she said was "Good Morning!" but it was the most beautiful smile I've ever seen. It would not have ranked on E!'s list of beautiful but to me it was like looking into Heaven.

Naturally I said good morning back and quickly shut off my emotions lest I burst into tears. (And I can't even blame it on PMS) I did ask Natalie if she saw what a beautiful smile that lady had--she was noncommittal as most almost-5-year-olds are. However, as I looked for flour, I felt The Holy Spirit prompt me to tell her what a beautiful smile she had. She and her mother had moved on, so I thought "I'm not going to chase her down--if I run across her again, I will say something."

But God didn't let go--I, of course, did run across her again and put it off. He gave me a 3rd chance and this time, I took it. I told her but she didn't hear. Her mother did though (which I was trying to avoid) and she said "Thank you....She is God's gift to me...She has a lot of problems but those don't matter because she is a gift." We shared a moment across age, nationality, language as I said back "That's ok, mine have a problem too--they are just like me!" She got a great kick out of that and she walked off smiling.

I probably will never know what, if any, that impact had on that woman and her daughter. But it reaffirmed for me on a day that I'm still near tears because I'm so homesick, that when it is all gone, I still have faith--I still have My Savior and He is close to the brokenhearted.

Thanks, Dearest Lord, for answering my unsaid prayer--to keep the eyes of my heart open so I can have the hope in You. That's all I need.