Miranda

I met Miranda at a little shop where she was working. I had gone in to look at the things the store had on display and said hello. You could tell right away that she was not in the best of moods so I just asked the questions I needed to ask and one of the questions tip of a bit of an explosion. Apparently she had an argument with her employer of three years. It all settled around her 13 year old son who is on the school wrestling team and had made it to the regional championships. She missed them because she had to work. When he placed second in his weight class it offered him the opportunity to go to State. She informed her boss that she needed the time off. Long story short, when she returned to work he told her she no longer had a job. She clocked out and went home. She really needed the job being a single parent of two teens. Then 9 days latter the phone rings and her employer (former) informs her that she has to work December 28-30 and January 1-3. She did because she needed the money but in the process found another job and informed him that her last day would be on the third.

Again, Miranda was not looking for anyone to solve her problem; she was just needing someone to listen to the situation she found herself in. I reminded her that God really cared about the situation she was in and would be with her during her time of trouble. She begin to tear a little and begin to open up about some problems she was having with her son. I invited her to find a church that would minister to her needs (she was not in my local area) and offer some activities and guidance for her children. I then reminded her again that God truly cared and ask if I could have prayer with her. She wept. Praise God for the opportunity remind someone of the love and grace He has for them.

And then today, I met Joyce. Next time I will tell you about her and that chance to minister.

Pastor Don Johnston

January 1

I have often suggested to people that they keep a journal. I have for years, jotted down notes for my own reading later. For some reason I feel impressed of the Holy Spirit to begin jotting things for others to read. Now my problem with that is: (a) I don't feel that anything I write is worth reading and (b) it takes me forever to put my thoughts into print. Oh, I have the words in my head but for some reason when I put it into print it sounds...well dumb.

I don't have any idea how often I will do this but I would like to make it pretty regular. So with the preliminaries out of the way let me begin with the thoughts on my mind.

God has awakened within me a hunger for touching people. Over the last few weeks He has reminded me time and time again of the real reason for ministry: to touch the lives of His creation and bring them the good news that He is alive and well and loves them and cares for them.

Over the last two days God has opened up the door for me to minister to two separate individuals. First there is Philip who is going through a messy divorce. His wife of many years has decided to divorce him, why? Because during a recent visit of his wife's daughter from a previous marriage he got in to a discussion about Jesus. The problem begin when she informed him and her mother for the first time that she had embraced atheism. The discussion became an argument and the daughter became irate. She left the house in a rage and demanded that her mother leave him because he "was a nut that believed in God and Jesus and all that ....". She did. He wasn't looking for anyone to solve his problem, just some one to listen and pray with and for him. So for thirty minutes of my day I listed to Philip. At the end he asked me if I would put his name on our prayer list at church. I said I would and asked if I could pray with him right then. He begin to cry and said yes. We prayed together. A perfect stranger, 30 minutes of my time, a prayer, the presence of the Holy Ghost, a friend of God reminded that he is loved by his Father. And now I remember...it is all about touching people.

Next time I will tell you about Miranda.
DJ