Divine Encounters

Last night I had a major headache. Caden had cried like a fool when I dropped him off for school yesterday morning, clinging to my leg screaming, "MAMA!" completely throwing me off my game for the rest of the day. In the several months that he has been attending his new school, this has happened twice. It's all in the name of manipulation...plus, he is going through a BIG TIME mama phase right now.
When we picked him up he was happy to see us and we all headed home together. Jay looked tired, Caden looked tired, I know I was tired...so we stopped off to buy some dollar menu dinner. Cheap, easy and no nutritional value whatsoever.
We were the only ones in the 'restaurant' until a man walked in and sat down a few booths away from us. To say he looked down on his luck would be an understatement. he was tall, but weighed only about 130 pounds, was probably about 70 years old and had rags tied around the holes in his jeans to keep the cold out. He sat with his head in his hands, letting out a deep sigh every now and then.
It is in situations like these that my husband comes to life. I saw him watching this man out of the corner of his eye. He'd look at him, then he'd look at me....until finally I said, "Go sit with him."
"Thanks." Jay said smiling, knowing his telepathic messages had gotten through to me.
Caden and I continued to eat our brown paper bag meals, singing 'jingle bells' and talking about what it means to be 'too loud inside' and how it hurts people's ears. Every now and then he would let out a yell then say, "Sorry, people's ears!"
All the while Jay and his new friend were chatting it up. A few minutes later, Jay came over and asked if I had any cash. I handed him a five and he went back over.
As we were leaving, Jay introduced Caden and I to the gentleman. He had very kind eyes.
When we got in the car I asked Jay about his conversation. He said the man lived in a tent on the property of a church where he plays guitar on Sunday's. He asked Jay for a dollar to buy a needle and thread to fix holes in his tent and his clothes...Jay has been in many of these situations and has heard it all, but he said, "Call me naive, but I really believe that's what he'll buy."
I asked him if he prayed with him and Jay said, "He was trying to save me!"
Apparently, this gentleman was on fire for Jesus, and tried to walk Jay through the prayer of Salvation, only to be pleasantly surprised that Jay was a believer too. Then Jay said the man looked him square in the eye and said, "When I get to heaven, me and Jesus are going to kick that son of a b**** devil all the way to hell!"
We cracked up hysterically...what an awesome statement! I know he cursed, but look past that for a second...
Jay and I have a lot of experience working with people who are down on their luck. When we were first married, we worked for The Salvation Army in Greenville, SC and we made a lot of relationships with individuals who called the damp, Salvation Army shelter 'home.'
I've noticed over the years that a common theme amongst the homeless is blaming the devil for everything.
The devil is why I made that mistake. The devil is the reason why I'm homeless. The devil is the reason for everything bad that has ever happened to me.
I know the devil is a very real threat to us and that temptation is something even Jesus himself had to overcome, but making the devil the scapegoat for all your bad choices removes responsibility from you and creates a victim mentality that's hard to shake.
I was so blessed and happy to hear someone who has little to nothing, who has been kicked in the face over and over again, who has probably endured more hardship than most of us combined, stand and boldly proclaim that through Christ, he can defeat darkness. That regardless of what this world throws his way, he has the power through Jesus to kick it back to hell where it belongs.
I love that God has placed a special set of eyes in the heart of my husband. I'm blessed to experience more of God than I could on my own by being married to a godly man.