A walk to remember...

This evening I took a walk down Newport Beach. From about a mile south of the peir to a few miles north of the pier. On the way I stopped at the pier and was asking God if He had plans for me in California. As i began my walk down the pier I saw an elderly lady laying down on a bench with EVERYTHING she owned packed into a grocery cart. People stared at her as they walked by. I found MYSELF walking by as well- feeling pity. On my way toward the end of the pier, i realized... "what am i doing? I call myself a follower of Christ but I won't do what He did or wants me to do!!!" So i turned around and asked God to take care of the rest. To take care of the words, of other's reactions, of her reaction- and just had a simple desire for her to feel loved. I sat down next to her prepared to let it all hang out and see what would happen... but she was asleep. Some others passed, woke her up and gave her money. after THEY prayed for her and left, i realized THIS WAS MY CHANCE!!! i scooted in, trying not to freak her out and told her my story. I didn't have much to give because I didn't have much at all, haha :) But we sat there and talked. Angel is her name, and I found how desperate she was for love. Just for someone to listen. For someone to sit next to her and not be freaked out. She spilled the beans of everything she could think of to not lose my attention. we talked for sometime about the reality of Matthew ch. 5- the beatitudes where Jesus teaches many people some basic yet challenging principals for comfortable, affluent Americans.

Later I walked down a jetty just north as the sun was setting and found a man fishing among the crashing waves. Shortly after introducing myself, I found (through his broken english and spanish accent) that he loved to fish. That he was where nobody was to catch the more rare fish- although he hadn't had any luck :) Very quickly we began talking about life with our hands and spanish/english. Very quickly we realized as we discussed together- "Life is so full with Jesus! If you have Him, you have everything! If you don't life is empty!!! Jesus is everthing!" I found that William was extremely passionate about the fact that Jesus is the way, truth and life. How exciting to meet him!? Just before leaving we talked about how pretty the ocean was and what a wonderful place to be. As i departed he reassured me, "Because of Christ, we are very good brothers!!!" I left on that note and returned to my walk down memorable Newport beach, Southern CA.

I don't know what all of this means, but I do know that an adventure lies ahead no matter the location or if its mundane. Gods gotta sweet plan for all of us :)