OK Lord, I'm Listening...

In honor of a friend that I will be hanging with next weekend, I wanted to relate to you part of her story:

I worked for Kanakuk Kamps a couple of summers in college. My first experience with true discipleship came from J, a young adult employed as my shepherd while I served on the kitchen staff at Kanakuk. The discipleship and investement that took place that first summer at Kamp impacted me strongly. I returned to my college on fire for discipleship among the young women I had been commissioned to lead.

Discipleship has been a fire in my belly that has not been quenched since that time. J's influence has gone far and wide through my ministry to young women.

I moved to D in 2005 without knowing much of my new church except for the well-known pastor and his ministry. While getting established in D, I began to think of J quite often. Soon enough I figured out that she had attended this church that was now my new home. I wondered when and if I might run into her, but we had lost contact over the 10 years since Kanakuk.

Growing stronger on my heart, I still was not sure what to do with the recurring reminders of her in my head.

The year went on and I kept watching and waiting, but not remembering to pray. Prayer finally became obvious to me when I pulled out a recyle file from amid a stack of hundreds at work. Her name was on it. I said immediately in my mind, "OK Lord, I'm listening. I will pray for her."

One year after I moved to Texas, I began to attend a bible study on the book of Esther. I walk in one day, and she was there! The moment was a suprise and a laughing matter to me. How hard headed can I be when He puts names and faces upon my heart? Pray, woman!

We scheduled a time to get together to catch up on the past 10 years. She no longer lives in D, but came frequently into town to bless her mother and father as he slowly was dying. Her father was not a Christian, very opposed to the idea. After our talk, the year of having her so frequently on my heart and mind began to make sense.

Needless to say, I joined in with the team of saints who God was calling into prayer for this man. As you might expect when God begins moving, you can expect solid foundations to be shaken. Her father became a Christian not long before he died.

Bittersweet. Evoking awe and wonder at our amazing God. Who are we to be involved in the sweetness of salvation?

© 2007 by Kendra Hinkle