West Cocoa Chat

A brrrrr update from "warm" Central Florida" - 27 degrees this morning? Come on, I need the warmth of some blog love - how about it blog world?

In this day of economic woes, Presidential inaugurations, and church worries its easy to over look the working of the Holy Spirit in our world. I don't pretend to fully understand how the Holy Spirit indwells us, guides us, and works through us but I do know He is at work. Now some might call what I'm getting ready to share pure coincidence, dumb luck, or someone needing to go buy a lottery ticket. I'll call it the working and the mystery of the power of the Holy Spirit in our world.

Our preacher Don preached a sermon just before Christmas on the concept of "paying it forward." He asked all of us to keep some amount of money on hand and look for a way to bless someone with no strings attached. One of our members took the sermon to heart and here is what happened:

He and his wife were having dinner at Wendy's. A young couple came in, she was pregnant, and sat near them. They overheard the couple talking about someone having just died of pancreatic cancer, their attempt to get to the family that lived 1200 miles away, and their dismay that their last credit card had been denied and they were out of money and "luck." When the couple walked outside, "John and his wife" followed. They walked up to them, introduced themselves, told them they had overheard their conversation, and asked them to wait in the parking lot for a few minutes.

John and his wife drove to the nearest ATM. John estimated how much money they would need for gas, withdrew the money, drove back to the Wendy's, and presented the couple with a wad of twenty's. They told the couple this was their way of paying forward the love God had bestowed upon them. The couple, grateful beyond belief, thanked them and continued their journey. Cool story, yes? But as they say, now for the rest of the story.

Several weeks later, a man arranged for a needy family to come to John's ranch to give them a time to ride some of their horses, tour their ranch, and to try and get away from some troubles they were facing. John told the man that the rides and the tour would be their treat and they would forgo the usual charge. At the end of the day, the gentleman who had arranged the special day for this troubled family, gave John an envelope. He told John he appreciated their kindness and he wanted him to accept this gift. When John opened the envelope their was a wad of twenties. It was above and beyond what they would have normally charged for rides on their horses and get this, it was in the exact amount they had given the needy couple in Wendy's a few weeks before, the exact same number of 20's.

Coincidence or the workings of an active God in His Kingdom? I know what I think.

// posted by cwinwc @ 5:04 PM