(the staff dancing with some kids at the park)
A couple days ago my department had a staff outing. All we knew was to wear walking shoes and bathing suits- which left me feeling about 90% excited, 10% nervous! We ended up going to Clarksville, having lunch, and then doing a ministry exercise in the park called an "ATL" (ask the lord). This is something we do often on the trips that we plan and lead. So we get to the park and just begin to spend some time in prayer asking the Lord to lead us to whatever activities, conversations etc. that He might have for us there. We take some time to ask Him to silence our thoughts and remove any distractions. Then we just spend some time alone with Him and ask Him to speak. We came back together to report anything the Lord had revealed and then broke off into different areas of the park to pursue what the Lord was leading us to. I really felt led to the kids (ironic I know). But it was spring break and the park was crawling with them! I figured if we could get some games going that would be a great way to love on the little ones while also opening some doors with the parents. I tried for a while to figure out how to get them engaged with us without taking on creeper status in the park (hilarious.. this is much easier to accomplish in other countries). After lots of failed attempts to get the kids to come play with us (seriously they just weren’t interested) I sat down in a swing feeling like a total failure. While swinging (which I've learned in my "old" age now gives me motion sickness), I struck up a conversation with a girl next to me in the swing. That conversation ended up going incredibly deep and the Lord opened a door for the gospel that I could have never imagined. This college aged girl opened up in some very deep ways with me and we were able to talk about our sin and the Lord's ridiculous love for us. How wonderful it was to tell her that she isn't any worse off than the rest of us. We are ALL broken sinners in need of a savior and Jesus is enough for us. I wish you could have seen her face as she asked me, "Do you think Jesus really wants to know me?" YES HE DOES!! Wow. I was amazed to see His plan unfold through the conversation. We are now Facebook friends and I am hoping to continue our conversation.
I'm not going to give you her name but please be in prayer for the girl from the park. I think Jesus has a crazy and awesome plan for her life and the word he keeps giving me to pray over her is "relentless pursuit." I’m asking the Lord to interrupt her thoughts and plans continuously until she has submitted to His wonderful love for her. Pray also for me that I would steward the relationship well and that I would continue to be available to the Lord to use me in whatever ways He chooses.
Love.
