We weren't sure what we were heading out to do that day. It's never really necessary to have a plan. God's already got one anyway. My friend Marian and I headed out to meander the streets, popping in and out of stores, chatting with anyone who would give us a few minutes of their day. We set out to be friendly, warm, loving and just have fun. If people allow us to pray for them and share a piece of their lives with us, then we feel forever blessed. On this particular morning, we walked to an art store and then to one of our favorite 2nd hand stores to say hello to the woman who works there. When we arrived, she was so happy to see us and asked if we could pray for a 4 year old little boy who was or might be in trouble. His mother had abandoned him, and his father was using him to get money and help from people. The boy didn't seem to be well taken care of, so this woman, Faith, had asked the man to leave the little boy with her. She has a little one that is the same age and the children could play in the store together when they are not in preschool. She woke up with this little boy on her mind and in her heart since the father had agreed to leave him with her, and then disappeared for a week and never dropped the boy off. She was worried for the safety of the little boy since the father didn't seem to care much for looking after him. We asked if it would be okay if we prayed with her for the boy right there in the store, as she agreed, a friend of hers, Sarah, interrupted us with a request. She apologized for being rude as we had not yet been introduced, and asked if we could pray for her too. When we asked her to tell us more about what she was going through, she nearly started to cry. We moved to a more private place and learned about her life. Abusive ex-husband, a family friend who pretended to help her only to take advantage of her, no job, and beautiful 7 year old daughter who she adored. With tears streaming constantly down her beautiful face, she told us a story of lost self worth, and the desire to trust God with everything she has. Marian decided that we should head down to the beach and make declarations. If you are unfamiliar with this, you just say or SHOUT things that are true. "I am a daughter of the king!!" "I am beautiful!!" "I am FREE!!" She agreed to come with us. We walked down to the ocean, and we prayed for her there holding hands. On the beach, we wrote things that were untrue in the sand, asking Jesus to wash them away. Asking Him to do as he promised, and wash us clean. We are not chained down by our past. We are washed clean by His blood. We kneeled down and wrote untruths before we got ready to shout the truths. A sample of mine: ugly, not smart, unclean, unwanted, not worthy… We laughed together as God caused the waves to wash some of the things away before we could even write 2 or 3 letters of the word. Oh how He loves us! After that we stood up and began to shout our declarations together. It was the first time that either Marian or I had lead someone in this, and it was freeing for all 3 of us. When we were done, we said good-bye to Sarah, with plans to meet again. She told us that when she woke up that day, she wasn't even going to go to the second hand store. She had planned to go to the library. She had been feeling so burdened and down. Now she felt light as a feather, as if she could fly. God had planned for us to meet that day. We walked away grinning and laughing together. As we walked back to the hostel, we talked about how the things we had written in the sand were so similar and how surprised we were by this. Meeting Sarah had brought Marian and I closer together as sisters as well. It's been a week and I am still smiling.
