Day 36: Dozing

I was driving back from lunch today and really felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. It’s a very difficult thing to describe. I can’t even remember what I was thinking about beforehand, but there was just this sudden feeling. Of what? Comfort? Power? God’s presence? An urge to act?

I think it was all those things and more. So I parked as far away from work as I could and still be within walking distance. Then I kept my eyes open. I saw him almost immediately – a guy sitting on a bench, his legs extended out in front of him, just relaxing. He was in the shade on a hot day, and I figured him to be a worker from one of the nearby offices.

Although he was a block away, he was right in my path back to work. I would have to walk right by him. And at first I did. I don’t know if it was a moment of fear or what, but it didn’t last long. I turned around and stopped in front of him. He didn’t see me at first. His eyes were closed. So I waited.

He must have sensed me standing there there because his eyes slowly opened and he looked at me. He was probably 65, nearing the age of retirement, and I could just make out the word “Airbus” on his name tag. “Are you awake?” I asked, making sure he knew I was friendly. He smiled, “Yeah.”

I told him I had a question for him: “I was wondering if I could pray with you,” I said. He absorbed this, and then shook his head. “Well … no,” he said. And then he paused, thinking about this, and explained, “I was just taking a break.” I smiled and assured him I didn’t think there was any problem. I just wanted to offer him a prayer if he’d take one. He thought a second or two longer and declined a second time.

Before I left, however, I asked him why not. After all, that’s a response that really calls for an explanation. “Well,” he said, “I already belong to a church.” I shrugged and told him that was great. Then I said that as I walked back down the street that I would say a prayer for him anyway. He kind of smiled again at that, and I walked away, praying my way back to work. It was a friendly exchange. Nothing negative about it.

As I sit here, I believe strongly that I was led to that man by God. I don’t know why, but it was a good feeling to be obedient.

Day 35: A long walk

I was leaving church tonight wondering who I would pray for. I almost turned and headed back into town, figuring to find someone there. But instead I went the way I would have gone anyway, praying for God to provide someone obvious. He did.

The kid was walking along 85^th Street – a narrow, two-lane road with no sidewalks – and I slowed down as I drove past him. He was headed toward town. I was going away from it. He was just a teenage kid. He was wearing a ball cap and a t-shirt and shorts. He looked harmless as could be. So I turned around.

“Where you going?” I asked when I pulled up beside him. He just said he was going to town, and he willingly accepted my offer for a ride. I wonder how many people had asked him. And I really started wondering when he told me he had walked from town all the way to the highway. That’s more than 2 miles. And he was half way back already.

“I just needed to clear my head,” he said, indicating subtly that he didn’t really want to talk about it. I didn’t push him. He said his name was Will. He was 15. We chatted about school. He plays football, but he’s not playing this year. He also wrestles. He was a friendly kid, and whatever problems he may have been having didn’t get in the way of his courtesy.

He asked to be dropped off at an intersection in town, telling me his mother didn’t expect him home until 9 p.m. That was an hour and a half away. So I dropped him off. We shook hands, and I asked to pray for him. He said that would be fine. Before I started, I asked if he was a Christian, to which he said he was. It was a short prayer, asking God to draw near to him.

Will thanked me and left. The last I saw of him was his back as he walked down the street.

Day 34: Making a difference

Our neighbors lost their daughter several years ago to brain cancer. Since then, they’ve been on a mission to raise money to find a cure. They started the Kyrie Foundation. And they’ve been holding a series of events – an awareness walk, a golf tournament, scrap-booking events and art shows – in an effort to collect funds.

Their annual Twilight Walk was tonight at Bishop Carroll. It’s grown bigger every year they’ve had it. It’s amazing to me how much they do, and in such difficult circumstances. To lose a child would be about the worst thing I could imagine happening. But they’ve apparently taken that pain and applied it for something good, for something bigger than themselves. They continue to act – not just be paralyzed by grief.

At the end of the event, our family went over to talk and pray with our neighbors. We want God to bless them in their work.

“Those who sow in tears

    will reap with songs of joy.

He who goes out weeping,

    carrying seed to sow,

will return with songs of joy,

    carrying sheaves with him.”

                           Psalm 126:5-6

Day 33: Pumping gas

He was pumping gas into a big Chevy pickup when I pulled up beside him. The size of his truck proved to be to my advantage, because he was stuck standing there for a long time. He was short guy, but stocky. He was wearing a blue shirt and jean shorts and had a big mustache. He might have been chewing tobacco.

After I got the pump running into my little Civic, I stepped around beside him and asked if I could ask him a question. “Can I say a prayer for you?” This guy was a little was different than most of the others. There wasn’t a moment of hesitation. “Sure,” he said. It wasn’t a giddy, clap-your-hands affirmation. But it was solid. Definite. So we prayed there beside the gas pump. It was a Friday night, so I prayed for his safety in wherever he would be going that night, and that God would draw him close.

He thanked me, and we parted – me to my side of my pump and him to his. I liked his response. It was immediate and certain. I’d like to think he is strong in his faith, and kind. When I left, he was still pumping gas. It was a big truck.

Day 32: The step-back

Tonight, I walked the entire length of Douglas from Old Town to the Broadview Hotel near the river. It’s the heart of downtown Wichita, and it’s a pretty desolate place after 5 p.m. It wasn’t until the very end that I finally passed anyone. So there were maybe eight city blocks where I didn’t meet a single soul. Talk about the need for revitalization.

But I eventually did run into someone. I had left Douglas and was walking back along 1^st Street when a guy rounded the corner of a parking garage. He had a little smile on his face, like he’d just been telling jokes or like he’d been thinking of something funny. He was walking pretty fast, and so was I, so our meeting was a little sudden. But I stopped him.

“Can I pray for you?” We were separated by several yards because we had walked a bit past each other before we stopped, and I took a small step toward him when I asked my question. His reaction was sudden. He took a sudden step back and held out his hand a little in front of him, like you would if someone were about to throw something at you.

But he heard the question and he paused. A rather bewildered look came to his face. And then, with an accent I couldn’t place, he said, “Yes.” Now I was surprised. “Right now,” I said, just to make sure we were clear. “Yes,” he said again. So I prayed for him. He thanked me when I finished and said his name was Frank. I told him my name. Then we shook hands and parted.

It was kind of a strange meeting. But I had a lingering thought. I obviously don’t know Frank’s background, but I wondered whether he was a Christian, and whether the God I was praying to was the same one he worshipped. In any event, Frank was lifted up in prayer to the one true God. And Frank seemed pleased by the gesture.

After one month ...

This month has flown by. And I've felt God's hand in it the entire time. I want to make sure I at least chronicle what I'm learning along the way. So here's what I know so far:

• I'm no longer worried about overdosing on adreneline. Apparently there's no limit to how many of those rushes you can have in a month and still survive.
• Most people will say yes when you ask to pray for them. When they say no, they mean it.
• God opens doors. But we have to be paying attention to them to notice. And then we must have the courage to walk through them.
• I've walked right by a lot of people in my life.
• Pride and fear are huge obstacles to obedience.
• It takes just seconds out of a day to reach out to someone. That's a pretty small sacrifice to make.
• I still don't know the full impact of this work in the world. But I do know its impact on me. That's been huge. My relationship with God has grown deeper. My trust in him has strengthened.

Day 31: A fanny pack

He was dressed business casual. The only thing I didn’t get was the fanny pack. You don’t see one of those every day. But he agreed to let me pray for him. I’d seen him walking in Old Town, which has kind of become my mission field with this project. I think it’s a good one – a lot of people work there, a lot of people play there and a lot of people stay there when traveling.

I saw him as I was out walking after some big storms tonight. People at that time were just starting to venture out into the streets again, just as the light was fading from the sky. When I asked if I could pray for him, he paused only for a moment and then said I could. He asked me first, though, where I went to church. I told him.

It was kind of an odd question because, as I found out in talking to him, he was from Georgia. Apparently, he was in town on business. His shirt had the logo of TECT, which is an aviation company. It settled in my mind – at least a little bit -- the fanny pack.

He was very nice. I prayed for his safety and his work and that his relationship with God would only deepen. Then he shook my hand and we went opposite directions.