Wired

I need to testify!

On Sunday, Liz and I decided after a Sonic Run, that before we got into reading for Elevate, we wanted to reach out to our neighbor who lives on our right in the "potato salad" house. On the other side we have "easter egg" neighbors who will soon get hit with the love of Jesus too!!

We went over and Joyce was there, with her granddaughter who I believe was in 4th or 5th grade. Joyce was open and inviting to us even with the details of her life and we quickly found out that she was bound by anxiety (is OCD, can't sleep well at night, is at unrest with neighborhood happenings and has a gun!), missed her twin brother who died this year, etc. We also found out that she is a believer and attends church and has her whole life. She does many service related things such as Meals on Wheels and visiting the Nursing Home where her brother stayed before he died.

But Joyce, like all Christians, needed a touch from the Lord. A fresh revelation of his Love and his rest and peace.

So we prayed for her and she shed a few sweet tears. We also talked to her granddaughter, Abriana, about Jesus. Liz shared her 90 second testimony (a technique we were taught in Elevate) and I got to walk through her through the life and sacrifice of Jesus. She said that she had never accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. I asked her if she wanted to do this. She timidly said yes. Joyce said, I think she understands and wants it even though she doesn't know what all it means right now. We asked her again and she said, a little louder this time, that she wanted to accept Jesus! So I prayed her through and she repeated after me, a salvation experience!!! Wow! I have not done that since once or twice when I was a counselor at Sky Ranch in 2004. Praise Jesus, because a simple act of kindness led to the crowning of another daughter of the King!

It was exciting to do that. To step out. I was glad Liz was there too, we were a good team.

In church we have been focusing on the verse:

"You have made known to me the path of life. In your presence, there is fullness of joy; In your right hand there are pleasures forevermore." -Psalm 16:11

We took brownies over and I wanted some sort of encouragement to go along with it, so I saw this notecard on my nightstand and decided to write that verse on a card. So before I wrote this on the inside, on the outside I was going to put our neighbor's name, but I have never known her name. But God gave me the word "Joy" and I almost wrote it on the front. Turns out her name was JOYCE and she was in need of JOY!!! I just thought that was neat.

It gives me hope that when we share the truth about God, people are changed. She seemed much more peaceful when we left and the cool thing is, Joyce and Abriana are coming to church with us on Sunday! :)