It all began Wednesday
afternoon. John and I had a lunch date, and we decided to bring Evan along for
the adventure. We were going to eat with two girls we had met the first night
at the bars.
When we arrived at
our meeting place, we waited for 30 minutes. After watching many people walk by
(and even playing the “guess what they are thinking game”), we came to the
conclusion we had been STOOD UP!!
With our emotions on
our sleeves, we decided to head to Pizza Hutt to eat away the pain J
Little did we know
the divine appointment God had
waiting for us there.
As we were eating,
two military men from the US Marines walked in. It’s such a pleasure seeing
other Americans on the other side of the world.
After rehearsing the
conversation a few times at our table, John and I walked over to the guys and
talked to them about their stay in Phuket, Thailand.
Evan stayed back at the table to intercede for
us.
It was a great
conversation. We learned about their lives and they even asked about what we
were doing.
As we were talking, I
felt the Lord say “You need to pray for
them”.
While John was
leading the conversation, I fought with God about the prayer.
Why was it so hard to
pray for these guys, when I have prayed for hundreds of people around the
world?
What would they think
about us?
What do they believe?
We said our closing
remarks, shook hands, and parted ways.
In my head, I thought
about how I missed my opportunity.
I wasn’t going to
tell the guys, though.
We met up with Evan
outside and talked about our chat with Russell and Kyle. Evan then asked if we
prayed for them, because he was praying for that opportunity.
My mouth dropped open
and my heart sank when I heard Evan say this.
The Lord really wanted us to pray for them: what about? We hardly
knew them?
With my voice low, I
told the guys what the Lord said to me.
Immediately, we
decided to go back and find The Marines.
After looking for 15
minutes with no success, we gave up.
If it’s the Lord’s will, we will run into them later!
We began looking
around, visiting random street venders, talking to other US Military men, and
enjoying our day on Bangla Rd.
It was about that
time to head home, but we didn’t want to leave.
The three of us sat
down on a bench outside of the mall and contemplated what to do next.
What was holding us
back?
Was it our
selfishness of wanting to stay at the beach?
Or was it the Lord?
The next thing I hear
is John “OH MY GOSH, there they are!”
In my head, I could
only image who he was talking about- Other world racers? Our girls that stood
us up earlier that day? More Americas?
NO! It was Kyle and Russell (an hour and a half
after we left Pizza Hut).
We looked at each
other and knew this was our second chance.
The fellas walked by.
We said Hello.
And they kept walking
by.
WE FROZE!
Why was it so hard to
pray for the other Americas?
As they walked off
into the distance, we couldn’t believe we missed our chance again.
Why did we let them
pass by when it was clearly a divine appointment?
Then it hit us, “If we can’t pray here, we won’t do it at
home”
We decided John would
do the talking and I would do the praying.
Now with urgency,
John and I stood up and started after The Marines.
Evan yet again stayed
back to intercede.
We ran down the
sidewalk, weaving in and out of people!
We dodged cars and
hopped over puddles.
We hid behind a
building so they couldn’t see us.
Then we ran some
more.
We couldn’t help but
laugh at ourselves.
What were we doing?
We looked like fools,
but we knew this is what we were supposed to do.
We caught Kyle and
Russell.
When they saw us, out
of breath, they looked confused!
We explained
ourselves to them and then asked to pray for them.
Even though they were hesitant, they accepted the prayer!
After a heartfelt
prayer, the guys gave us hugs and said Thank You.
As we walked our
separate ways, we knew a seed had been planted!
We may never see these guys again, but the Lord used us this day.
