The power of one encounter can change your life. You never know when that moment will happen.
It’s not your business to know. Your business is to simply live your life with intention, gratitude, and an attitude of service… to be a blessing to others along the way. In this video I share one woman’s remarkable story, an encounter that changed not just one life but many lives.
Pass It On!
What a great interview, Gloria. Thank you for spending the riches of your soul’s journey on all of us.
Hi Shelley ~ You’re so welcome! And back at ya. So glad to be reconnected with you. Warm blessings.
You are so right, we never know when one encounter can change your life. I’ve been alone 15 years due to divorce. Friends have told me I need to go where there are eligible men. What a laugh. There is no single man my age or near my age at my church. I go grocery shopping, church, and it seems no other place. I had tried online matchmaking but that led nowhere. I had prayed that if the Lord did not want me to marry again that he would take the desire away from me. The desire never went away, but I think I had lost hope and totally given up … until a chance encounter.
Once a month for the past 11 years I have been a chapel speaker at a mission for the poor. These are the working poor or those who have lost their jobs or got sick or some other event threw them into a spiral where they could not afford food, clothing or rent. The ministry provides help with those things, but also provides spiritual help through chapel services. Attending chapel is not mandatory; it is purely voluntary.
In October 2010 I was to speak at Restore Hope. As I walked in the door I greeted the folks behind the desk and then greeted those waiting in the reception area. By the time chapel started the room was full, but only two people came into the chapel when the invitation for chapel service was given. A black man, and a white woman. They sat on opposite sides of the room. So, it was just me, the chaplain and these two people.
I always ask God to give me something for his people and to let me speak with passion from my heart. And so that day, I gave the best I had as God gave the message through me to those two folk. After the message the chaplain invited any who would like prayer to remain and I would pray with them. The lady and the chaplain left, leaving the man who stood by his seat in the aisle.
When there was no one but him and me, he stretched out his hand and called my name. I walked towards him, took his hand, and listened as he began to tell me things he saw in me. He prophesied over me, prayed for me and gave me a warning. (At some point I asked if we could please sit down. We went to the front of the chapel and sat down with chairs facing each other.)
Our conversation lasted two hours! He was a gospel singer who sang with two groups, and he wanted me to meet the group that practiced every Friday and then had a bible study. He wanted me to meet the pastor that led the group and his wife; he wanted me to meet his pastor and speak at his church, but the thing that struck me the most was his simple statement: “Jean, I am your friend for life. ”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to be his friend, at least not that close a friend, but I looked into his eyes and I did not see any lust or lechery; all I saw was goodness. So, I made a silent agreement with God that I would be this man’s friend.
He gave me the warning again, and I was somewhat perturbed by the warning, that I not let anyone take away what I had and to stay on the path with God. What made this man think I would not stay on the path with God? I defended myself with this remark, “Don’t worry, I am staying on the path with God and walking in purity.”
A week later I went on a trip out of state for two weeks. It was during that two weeks that someone would be trying to convince me to move there and to be a part of a ministry there. It was right up my alley, using my gifts and talents. It encompassed my passion. But something wasn’t right and on the last day I saw the truth and how someone had been trying to deceive me. On the way home on the plane I realized how close I had come to getting off the path that God had for me, and losing what I had. And I remembered the words of the man in the chapel.
After I arrived home I contacted him to let him know that God had used him to speak to me. I started going to his bible study. Eventually I became one of the teachers. He and I spent hours talking in person and on the phone. We are very close friends. Through him I have met his pastor and now assist her in the church leading worship, teaching and preaching.
He had never been at the ministry before and was there to find help for a friend. I am only there one day a month. But he was there on the specific day that I was there and he answered the invitation to come into the chapel.
A close encounter that changed the course of my life.
Hi Jean ~ What a remarkable story, a marvelous encounter with God. Nothing without His joy! Mighty blessings. ~ gb