Surprise of Surprises!!! Delight of Delights!!!
We're leaving the Columbia Post Office parking lot . . . . . . a passenger and I have just picked up his mail. Now, we are headed off to Mt. Pleasant to see his probation officer, . . . when, . . . out of the corner of my eye, I see them!
Whoa, WAIT . . . . . . . They are getting into A CAR!!
They are getting into THEIR car!!
WHO WOULD HAVE EVER THOUGHT IT ?!?!
We've known her for over seven years-him for about three years. We've given her rides for over five years. She is physically handicapped. And she fixates on things and gets all wrapped up in them and jumbles them up in her mind. She's subject to seizures. She loves the Lord, but has trouble following Him in his teachings about forgiveness and letting go of the past.
People have always wondered about how her future will be.
Over the years, our MUMs drivers have been alternately hopeful and frustrated with her, over and over again.
And then, she got married to a young man who has also required mental health treatment, and we all wondered more.
And then, about a year later, she got pregnant and had a baby, and we (I must admit) all wondered even more.
But, over time, that husband of hers is becoming one of my heroes. He is a testimony to the value of "steady as she goes." Since the baby came, we've given them rides, and we've watched his patience with his wife. We've watched how gently he cares for that little baby.
And, over the span of their almost three years together, we've also watched him take hold of a low-income job and hold on to it. Then, he got another job that paid a little more and he held onto that job too.
Then, they stopped calling us a while back, and now I know why. They don't need us anymore!! THEY'VE GOT THEIR OWN CAR!!
As we drive by, she sees me, too! She waves real big with a proud smile on her face, and points to the car!!!
I couldn't resist driving back around. I had to get the story behind all this. I mean, this looks like cause to celebrate! I circled the parking lot, jumped out of the van, and ran up to the car, and made over it , and told them how glad I was for them and how proud I am of them! She fairly beamed over this great accomplishment!
He listened as I was talking with her, but continued with what he was doing, buckling the little baby up in the back seat - "So she will be safe," he said.
We don't know what their future will be. They face many obstacles, some of which are within themselves.
But, I am convinced that their future is much brighter than it would have been, except for those wonderful, servant-minded volunteer drivers who, over the years, have listened to them, and advised them, and prayed WITH them and then gone home and prayed FOR them.
And then, there is A Woman's Place, where they taught them how to care for that baby, and kept reminding her of God's principals of forgiveness. And there is Centerstone, where they were helped tremendously, and all the churches (she has attended many, many churches) where they were welcomed and loved, and the availability of Servant's Heart, with their supply of free food and clothes and other necessities.
An "orchestration of helpfulness" has been "playing" all around them for many years! That sweet symphony of love has filtered through their lives and made a vast difference. And, in this particular composition, God blessed me, this day, to enjoy a crescendo, in four-wheeled form! What a thrill! Thank You, Jesus!!
As we drive away from the Post Office, my passenger asks in his typical slurred voice (psychotropic medications - he tends to over-ingest), "What was that all about?"
A few minutes ago, his situation looked pretty hopeless, too. But, I've just been listening to a symphony! I've just heard a crescendo!! My hope for him is renewed! (One seed at a time, Randy. Who knows who will water it? Who knows when the harvest will come? Just be faithful to plant.)
And so, from the launching pad of that renewed hope, I "blast off" into an animated account of how the goodness of God has surrounded that young couple and their baby. All the way to Mt. Pleasant . . . . .
