Many people have asked me how I first heard about the WR. It was nothing short of a miracle. In my line of work, we are obligated to abide by Fair Housing rules. The 7 federally protected classes are race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, and national origin. I am not legally allowed to ask questions about people’s religion or their family. If they bring it up, however, they can speak freely about it.
I was at work one day. It was ordinary. A few appointments here and there. Showing apartments. Signing out resident packages. Answering phones. And then this lady walks into the office. She looked well put together and was extremely nice. I sat down with her to gather information about what she was looking for, when she wanted to move, etc.. Usually, people tell us that they are relocating to be closer to work or to their family, so it came as a shock when she told me she liked the community because we weren’t near any trains. Assuming she didn’t like noise, I asked if she’d had a bad experience living near railroad tracks.
In front of my eyes I saw a woman unravel at the seems and break in front of me. I had no idea why, but I knew that this woman was in the midst of brokenness. She poured out her heart to me and told me that her beautiful son who had just turned 18 was recently hit and killed by the train near her house. You could hear the heartbreak and grief weighing on her spirit. My heart broke for her and I stepped outside of my role as a leasing agent. I felt empathy for her loss and asked her how she was doing. She told me that her fiance had left her after the accident because “she wasn’t healing fast enough.” She then told me how her other children were handling it and spoke about her daughter’s faith and how it had impacted her family to continue trusting in God’s goodness. Her daughter was in Cambodia doing the World Race.
In that moment, I knew God was speaking to me. He used this woman’s heartbreak to open a new door in my life. For the following week I couldn’t shake the thought that God was calling me in that moment to join Him in something greater than I could’ve ever imagined. I looked at the WR website and saw the “Do you have what it takes?” quiz. I knew I didn’t even need to take it, but I did anyway. Before I even looked at the results, I was browsing through tour routes and my route jumped out at me. God stopped me from scrolling any further and I started the application process. One interview and 2 of the longest weeks of my life later, I got the call. I was accepted.
This woman is still in the midst of the valley and is experiencing one of the hardest things a parent could ever encounter here on earth. Since that day, I haven’t seen or spoken to her again, but I pray for healing and restoration in her life as well as her childrens’. God bridged the gap between earth and heaven in that moment and stepped into the middle of our conversation to radically change my world.
Sometimes He will use your pain to change a stranger’s life. She may never know what her story has done for me, and that gives me hope that my story may have impacted someone that I never knew about. When you are in the midst of the battle, turn your eyes toward Jesus. Even in your pain, He brings blessing.
“For we know that God works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
