Mary and I grabbed our stuff, and headed to the elevator to head back to the interfaith chapel. As we approached the doors, Mary said, “In case of emergency do not use elevator, use stairs.” But what was written next to the elevator door was a different phrase. At that moment, I realized that she couldn’t read the sign, but she remembered the phrase m & must have learned it when she was younger and also knew that this was an appropriate time to use that phrase. {{ What an incredible gift God gave me, the ability to compose this very blog. It’s truly a miracle that I can read and write, and these gifts were things I had taken for granted for too long. I am so thankful to God for the ability to write this, and I thank Him for the gift of literacy that He’s given to you, yes you. }} We got in the elevator, got up to the second floor, and approached the interfaith chapel, only to find out that it was closed and we couldn’t get in.
We went to the hallway near the chapel, and I pulled out my sleeping bag for Mary. As she was drifting off to sleep, I sat against the wall, singing worship songs, full of eggs, bacon, pancakes, water, and the Holy Spirit. By this time it was about 1:45/2:00 in the morning, so I set my alarm on my Chinese cell phone and took a light nap. I got up before my alarm, and walked around for a bit. I found my way to the ihop and got some food to go, and made my way back to where Mary was sleeping. I put the food next to her stuff, and then began going through my day pack. All I could se was stuff I was still holding onto, and I knew needed to let go of. In the next few moments, God really spoke to my heart about giving. I kept seeing the empty pack from my dream, and the word ::GIVE:: kept appearing in my mind’s eye. After a few minutes I finally began to bite the bullet and started another “Mary pile.” Before my emotional self could take the stuff out of the pile, I began to place everything I could: markers, paper, more toiletries, my Chinese cell phone and charger, but suddenly I was faced with a huge challenge. I was holding my itouch in my hand.
I had purchased this water-damaged, 2nd or 3rd generation itouch for less than 40 yuan (about $7 USD) but it had been SO well used in the mere 7 ish months I was its owner. I had over 140 notes, intimate descriptions of dreams and messages I had received from God, encouraging message from friends, and my own mental ramblings. It also had some incredible worship music, music that helped me get to those wonderful elevated levels of His Presence. I began to hear myself argue with God. “God, I know you want me to give this up, but this is MUSIC. Music is my everything!” And before I could go any further, the verses about the young rich man struggling about giving his riches away in order to get eternal life entered my head. (Matthew 19:16-21 (NASB) 16 And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” 17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; 19 Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
I knew in that moment that Jesus wanted ( and still wants, and always wants) me to follow Him directly, not the music about Him ( which I kind of had an inkling I was doing, but I kept pushing that thought to the side of my brain denying that I could ever do something like that ( yeah right.) . ) I knew then and there I had to give up the itouch; I didn’t want to be like the young rich man who couldn’t sell his possession and give to the poor. I wanted (and still want) to follow Jesus, even if that meant giving up my itouch. With a twinge of struggle, God gave me the strength and grace to put it in the pile. {{ Since giving my itouch away, I have been blessed to be aware of a deeper dependency and opportunity for a deeper, more intimate relationship with Christ Himself. It’s been a process as I’ve been learning this new way of seeking Him directly and not just seeking Him through music about Him, and hopefully I’ll be able to articulate how that is going and post a blog about that another time.}}
Finally, it was time to wake Mary up, give her more of my stuff, and get ready to go to the gate for my 6:00 am flight. After a few seconds of being awake, Mary asked me if smoking cigarettes was a sin. I told her that God made cigarettes, so I believed it was ok to smoke, as long as one realized that God is more important and valuable than cigarettes. Then she said, well what about (explicative) (Editor’s Note: having sex)? I didn’t really get a chance to reply before she told me that she believed it wasn’t a sin. I honestly had no idea what to do in that moment, but suddenly my gut told me that I should ask her if we could pray one last time. We began to pray, and when she prayed, she said something I had never heard before in my life, “Jesus, help us take every thought captive and in obedience give it to you.” I was in awe at what I was hearing. This woman had such faith and courage and boldness, that echoed through her vocal chords, it was unlike anything I’d experienced before ( and I had JUST left Training Camp) As we continued to pray I heard a voice in my head, “Ask her to receive the Holy Spirit.” I said, “Mary, do you know about the Holy Spirit?” She nodded. I said, “Would you like to receive the Holy Spirit?” She nodded. Next thing I know, I’m helping her invite the Holy Spirit into her heart. In those moments, as she was letting the Holy Spirit into her heart, all I can articulate those moments as were fireworks going off in front of me, and we (Jesus and I) were charging into the fireworks full force. It was truly miraculous.
I smiled as her and she smiled back with the most beautiful smile I’d ever have the honor of witnessing. I suddenly realized I needed to go, and told her I needed to do so. I told her to keep all of the stuff I had given her, and all of the stuff from the most recently constructed “Mary pile.” I quickly taught her how to use the itouch, and as I was showing her how to write a note, I wrote the word ‘good’ and asked her if she could spell morning. She spelled ‘manna’ so what we saw on the screen was ‘good manna.’ I really saw God’s sense of humor as he was telling me that she (and I) were receiving some good manna right then and there.
We started to go back to the interfaith chapel to see if she could get her book. As I was heading out, she spoke some truth into my life and prophesied over me. The prophecy was so beautiful and magnificent, only time and God will show me when it’ll go down. Finally, I got on the escalator and watched her watch me as I headed to the ticket counter to catch my flight to Seattle.
I’m sure that there are more elements of that night that I haven’t fully processed, and hopefully by His Grace, He’ll reveal more of His Truth, but for now, the account I’ve shared is what I received and was able to articulate in these 3 blog posts. I don’t know if I’ll ever see Mary again, but it was an incredible experience giving Mary a bunch of my stuff because she needed it. She doesn’t have a permanent place of residence, but for one night, in the Atlanta Airport, she became aware that God’s been preparing a room for her before the creation of the world. That, my friends, if pretty glorious if you ask me.
Thanks for reading.
