Sometimes, on the Race, you have a ridiculously difficult team time and you end up leaving the room in a hysteric crying fit (yes, I did this…). You’re sitting outside on a step on the sidewalk because you have to remain in sight of your team but you also need to be alone and feel the brokenness for a moment. You’re trying to hide your face because this just happens to be a busy street and Easter is approaching and everyone seems to be out and about today. And sometimes, as you’re sitting there trying to pull yourself together in a public place and failing quite miserably, Jesus appears to you in a stranger.
As I sat on that step, trying not to draw too much attention to myself, a young men knelt down in front of me and began saying something in Romanian. It caught me off guard at first, but I sheepishly pointed to myself and whispered “English.” He asked me if I was okay, and I must have unconvincingly replied, “Yes, I’m okay.” He shook his head and gently said, in his broken English, “No, you are not. Why are you crying?” I smiled and told him again that I was okay. He knelt there for a moment longer, showing me the sincerest compassion that I've ever experienced from a stranger. Then he was gone.
About five minutes later, a woman around the age that my mama would have been approached me and held my face in her hands. She spoke softly to me in Romanian. I didn’t understand her, but I knew she was speaking love to me. She spoke for about a minute, just standing there, holding my face, seeing me. She kissed my cheek as she smiled and walked away.
The Lord sends us comfort in our heartache. He was showing me that he could never forsake me, never leave me. When he can’t physically wrap his arms around me, he will send me someone who can.
P.S. My team has since had a breakthrough and is learning to love each other deeply day by day. Praise the Lord, for He is good, and He knows what we need.
