A Thank You....

Well, I have been looking for the friend that you brought to me last weekend all week long at work. I saw him today and he was having a rough day. I wanted to tell him thank you for his pep talk to me last weekend. He thought he had been too strict on me, but I told him that apparently I needed to hear it. I told him that I just wanted to tell him thank you and that I knew that didn't necessarily make sense as he didn't know what I was going through when he said the things that he did. He said that it made perfect sense as sometimes God puts things on our hearts out of the love He has for us to tell people certain things. You definitely spoke to me through him last weekend though.

One thing that really stood out to me last weekend though was that we were talking down by returns and someone came down to leave the store with their merchandise and I asked to see their receipt as they didn't check out with me. My friend, I'll just call him A here, said to me "Good job, you've just increased your worthiness to this store." I asked him "You mean I wasn't worthy before?" A said that I'm always worthy through Jesus Christ, but we can always be better. Do you believe that God came down and took on flesh to die for our sins?" I said yes, and he looked at me, pointed at me, and said "say it." I've never once had anyone do that to me before and at first it caught me off guard and I giggled. A says "you can't say it, Scripture says if you can't say it, then you don't believe." I said that I did, but I barely knew him and did he not just see me at church that morning. He came back saying that he went to church for over 20 years because his parents made him go, but he didn't believe. It wasn't until just a few years ago that he felt Jesus' presence and broke down crying before his life turned around and he's never been the same. I then told him that I do believe that God sent his son to die for us and that He made us worthy of eternal life and that I've never doubted that there was a God.

A while later one of the guys had asked me how I was doing and I mentioned that I was fine, but my feet and back were hurting that day. He told me that I needed to get my old man to give me a nice back and foot massage when I got home. I said "yeah, that's really going to happen." A came over to me a few minutes later and not knowing any of the specifics that I've been worrying about started telling me how the Bible says that the women are supposed to be submissive to their husbands and in return the husband is supposed to put them up on a pedastal and love them so much that they would give their wife anything in return. I giggled and A said "you don't believe that?" I told him that a lot of people take that verse to the extreme, but I asked him "what if you do so much for your husband and he doesn't give you that in return." He looked at me and said "then you've got some issues because your husband doesn't have God in his heart." It was like God just smacked me in the face with that answer and my eyes filled with tears. We both had to tend to customers after that and as he walked away he said "Jess, I'm not trying to be strict on you." But, I know that Andy doesn't always stay in the Word. We hardly pray together, other than in church, and He's never brought up Scripture with me and with all of his money woes and negativity about everything, I know that what A says is true right now. And I know You spoke to me through A.

He came back about a half an hour later and asked me how old Deidra was. He asked me if it was getting easier now that she was getting older and I said yes and no. He said "let me guess...yes, because she doesn't keep you up at night and no, because she wants everything." I said that it depends on the night and she does want everything and is an advertiser's dream. She's also been getting kind of mouthy now that she's been in school." A told me how God entrusted this little being to us and that we needed to be responsible for her and that we needed to nip all that in the butt. He told me how his life was a mess before he came to know God and his parents always let him go to all these sleepovers and stuff and meanwhile all he was doing was getting in trouble with drugs and stuff.

What I walked away with from those conversations throughout the night was that I needed to believe that You, Abba, will take care of me and what I am going through. I need to quit arguing with Andy about so much and just do it his way for awhile, even if I see them as mistakes. I realize that I can state my position, but in the end as head of the household the final decision should rest with him. And I also realized that we need to get a handle on some stuff with D as far as some stuff goes...the talking back, the not wanting to sleep in her own bed...the games that she plays and plays and plays....

But, I want to thank you for sending A my way and I want to lift A up in prayer as he was having a bad day and he mentioned that he needed the Lord's help to smile today. I didn't ask for specifics, but I would like to lift him up in prayer today, Abba.