Today has been nuts.
Out of my comfort zone in almost every way.
Weird, yet wonderful.
So my alarm went off at 5:30 this morning and I managed to drag myself out of bed somewhere around 5:50 to shower and hit the road to Charlotte shortly after. Briana and I were going to Elevation Church this morning. It was so worth waking up before the sunshine. I love worship there, just resonates with my soul. There really aren’t words for it, but that’s ok.
Anyways, before I go hopping down a rabbit trail. . . back to why I’m writing this post.
After church we decided to go uptown in Charlotte to eat and go to my very favorite place. There is one spot in a park in the middle of the city that I LOVE going to.
We ran into one minor problem.
In case you don’t already know, I don’t care all that much about football, so I had completely not given any thought to the fact that the Panthers play in Charlotte on Sundays sometimes. . . like today.
So imagine all the chaos of people and traffic in an already busy city and us trying to find our way around and find parking that doesn’t cost $25-$40. . . it was suuuper fun. Not.
We ended up driving around downtown for close to an hour and a half and right as we were about to give up, we were begging Jesus for a parking spot, and then all of a sudden Jesus gave us a lovely free parking space.
Except that it was about 10 blocks from where we wanted to be.
But we were thankful for a solution and started walking. Skipping on over some other random ridiculous adventures (if you’re my facebook friend you can see those there) to when we were leaving the park after lunch. We walked past a couple and their adorable little girl on our way to cross the street and as we went by I felt like Jesus was telling me to talk to them.
Sadly, I was disobedient and didn’t act on it. Then by the time I worked myself up to it, the opportunity was gone. I was too scared to walk up to total strangers to strike up a conversation. As Briana and I walked away I told Jesus that next time I would listen, no matter what.
Soon a guy came up to us and asked us to help him buy minutes for his phone. As he was talking to us I asked Jesus if I was supposed to talk to him further, but didn’t feel like I got an answer, I just felt incredibly uneasy. So we kept walking towards our car.
A few blocks down the street, we walk past a guy sitting next to a building, holding a guitar. We get a few steps past him and it was as if Jesus was tapping me on the shoulder saying, “That one. Talk to him.”
I turned to Briana and told her that I felt like God was saying I needed to turn around and talk to that guy we had just passed. She looked at me like I was a little crazy, which I felt like I was, and then said that if I thought that’s what Jesus was calling us to do, then we were doing it.
So we walk up and say hello and ask him how his day is going.
We start chatting, introduce ourselves and find out that his name is Greg. Shortly into our conversation I asked Greg what his story was. He said before he told us that he wanted to play us a song he wrote. So he played us a song he wrote about losing a girl he loved and how he didn’t have the words to tell her what she meant. At this point, I’m still pretty skeptical about why Jesus wanted me to talk to him. I mean, he’s singing us a love song, sorta, and its just all a little strange.
Then I got the word “listen.”
So I sat and listened and Greg finished singing and then began to tell us about his life. He told us how sometimes he brings his guitar and comes and sits downtown to play music. He told us how people stare and take photos of him without asking and assume that he is homeless and begging for money.
Right about here is when I started feeling pretty convicted. Because I had assumed that he was homeless and playing music for the money. Guilty.
Greg is not homeless, he was at one point a few years ago, but since then he has gotten his life more on track. He told us how he hit rock bottom three years ago and then ended up stumbling into a church. He said he had been raised in church but then as he got older decided he knew what was best and ran away from God. He admitted that in the end it caught up with him and he found himself in situations he knew weren’t good. When he came back to God a few years ago Jesus changed his life.
Then he told us about his sons and how much he loved them. He said that when he plays music downtown that the tips people give him he only keeps part of it and uses it on doing things with his kids. He said that the money people toss in his hat he gives a portion to the church and another portion to homeless people he meets on the streets. Greg said that he knows how hard it is to be there and that Jesus gives freely, arms wide open, and so he wants to try and do the same.
Greg seemed to be done with what he was sharing with us, so I asked if he would be willing to let me photograph him and pray with him. He heartily agreed and said he had one more song for us that he had written as well.
As I snapped a few photographs of him, he played the song. The lyrics were part of his testimony. I was able to record part of it on my phone to remember the words to share.
“I’ve wasted half the best years of my life. Wasted, filled with emptiness and strife. Wasted. I’ve lost all that ever mattered along the way. I’m wasted, like my money I’m all spent. Wasted, all the way to my last cents. Wasted and I know I can’t afford to run away. So take me, take me by the hand. Oh take me, from these shifting sands. Oh take me, Jesus teach me to run to you today. Wherever I run I catch up with myself. Can no longer keep my feelings bottled up, I need your help. Help me open my eyes to you. Help me open my heart to you. Lord come on, I need a friend, so come on in. I need a friend in you.”
I loved the words, just how honest they were.
After his song we chatted for just a bit more then I was able to pray over him and then said our goodbyes.
As we walked away I was overwhelmed at how much of a blessing it had been to me to sit and talk with Greg and hear his story. I pray that Briana and I were a blessing to him in some way too.
All of it was so way out of my comfort zone. I don’t like talking to people I don’t know. I’m so thankful I did today. I’m thankful for that hour and a half of annoyance trying to find parking that led to us parking way out of our way.
We wouldn’t have run into Greg if we had been able to easily park where we wanted. Being able to just listen to Greg’s story and love him in spending a short amount of time with him and praying with him was worth it.
I’m glad things didn’t go according to my plan today.
God’s plans are much bigger and better than mine.
