Chessly

The other week I was at our church offices after a meeting, and I was meeting a friend for dinner at 9.  I had some time before I was supposed to meet him, so I decided just to wait at church and finish up some work until dinner.

A voice interrupted me.  Since I had left the door unlocked, someone had come into our church and asked, "Um, sorry, but do you know if the last bus has come for the night?"

A bit of background for the non-Fayetteville people -- Arkansas in general and Fayetteville in particular are not places you want to live without a car.  While we do have a small bus system, the schedule is infrequent and the routes are limited.  So, long story short, I told the normal, young-ish looking girl who I assumed was a college student that I didn't know and that I would be happy to look the information up for her online.  She said she thought she'd missed the last bus for the night, walked outside, and thanked me.

And that's when the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit told me to offer her a ride.  So I locked up the church and I did.

Over the course of giving her a ride, that's when I learned she was a domestic abuse victim, she had just left her living situation in Louisiana a few weeks prior, she'd had to leave her dog and sense of security behind, she was drunk on a Wednesday night at 8 PM, she was staying with strangers who were cokeheads, she didn't have a place to live, and her phone had been stolen from the last sketchy guy who she'd stayed with two nights prior.  My heart was broken.  I kept asking the Lord to give me wisdom -- what do I do?  What do I say?

When I dropped her off, it broke my heart.  I asked if I could pray for her.  She initially wouldn't let me, but she then relented.  I sensed the Holy Spirit's presence heavily right there in my little Civic in a sketchy neighborhood praying for my new friend Chessly.  She asked for my number and, after praying for wisdom, I felt like I should give it to her -- so I did.  However, it's been about a month and I haven't heard from her.

I still pray for her; I would appreciate it if you would too.

Like I've explained before, one of the biggest lessons I'm learning now is to just to be faithful to the opportunities the Lord puts in front of you.  I'm also learning that you never know what they will be.