Road sign saves a life. . .

        She wandered up the steps, slightly inebriated, with the scent of alcohol still lingering on her breath.  Swiftly greeted by my co-pastor and soon after by me, she began to reveal that the reason for her unexpected visit was to inquire about our church road sign that said, ". . .everyone valued, everyone loved, everyone welcome. .."

For the purposes of this blog, we'll call her "Betty". (This is not her real name.)  Betty, in her early 60s, had suffered abuse from her father as a child and was now estranged from her own children and grandchildren because of new information that had recently surfaced relating to this issue. The message fed to her by past and present circumstances was that she was not valued nor worthy of genuine love.  Low and depressed, she drowned herself in alcohol and made a trip to the pokies across the road to spend her last dollars on earth.  Betty explained to us that she was on her way home to take a bottle of pills and end her life when the words, "everyone valued" on our church sign struck her attention.

Feeling valued was the farthest from her reality at that present moment, but she could not ignore the words on our sign that claimed otherwise. She saw cars in the carpark and people milling around (it happened to be Wednesday night, right before our mid-week Bible Study), and was coherent enough to make the decision to approach our worship facility.  Donna and I were able to offer her words of hope in Christ's love and a hot cup of tea, pray with her, and exchange contact details. She declined other methods of assistance and walked back down the road.

Without a doubt in my mind, I firmly believe that the Spirit of God led Betty right to us, using our silly road sign as a spotlight to highlight his love for her when her path seemed so dark. I believe God used us to save a life that night.  We were tools in his toolbox, sharp and ready, and at just the right time and without warning, God pulled out in order to craft a new reality for Betty. What a humbling thought:by no merit of our own, but rather because of  God's grace and infinite wisdom, were we given the privilege of helping a woman choose life who could not choose it for herself.

 God is working, people!  Were the unseen made visible, we might see Christ the Good Shepherd walking alongside her at night with his staff and flashlight, yanking her from the edge of the cliff, turning her eyes to see his light pointing her to a new path. And why?  Because of his love.

We believe we will see "Betty" again very soon, perhaps even tomorrow. Please pray for her and others like herself that are deceived into believing lies that life is not for them.  Choose life.  Choose to love.  Choose Christ.