Part 2

Thanks for waiting for the end of the story! (If you haven't read the blog just below this, you'll need to do that to understand this one.) I won't keep you in suspense any longer...

When Sarah, Colleen and I realized Misty didn't want to leave the car just yet and was interested in talking with believers, I could definitely feel an excitement and willingness to commit, as late as it was, to seeing through to sharing the good news with this interesting stranger.

Misty seemed encouraged to realize that she was with Christians, and she told us how we were different from her friends, gesturing vaguely to the college students mingling around the hot dog stand and walking down High St. She said at one point that her getting a ride from us didn't just happen by chance, and I definitely agree!

In the back of my mind I was a little worried that it was possible Misty might not remember too much of the conversation the next day (as I said before, she was more than a little 'under the influence'), but I proceeded to unfold a condensed version of God's story. I started with Creation and how we, humans, are the ones who messed things up and broke God's heart. We're the ones who introduced all the horrors of humanity and the proneness to depravity and other gods. Misty knew that to be true, and was very aware of the sin in her own life, telling us briefly of some hauntings of her past. Our hearts went out to her, and we continued to share.

She sat forward and seemed to be attentively listening, saying things here and there, and often coming back to the tornadoes in Kansas and that in the end days we won't be able to tell one season from another. She kept asking us when the end would be, wanting us to confirm that it was very soon, seeming to really believe that we knew the exact hour. We could only tell her that it could be any time, and that we need to be ready (to have accepted Christ) when it happens. So we tried to always bring the conversation back to what she personally needed to do to have hope, but she often despaired about the end of time, and when she did ponder what we were saying about having a relationship with Jesus, she seemed to lose heart because of her own sin, not believing God could forgive her for all she's done. Sarah and Colleen were particularly comforting during those times, I thought, speaking words of hope and encouragement. I knew that she probably wasn't going to make a decision that night, and she needed to be more clear-headed when she was ready. We were hoping that we were planting the seed, though.

After a little while, she asked us if we thought God would be okay with her having a cigarette because she wanted to try and calm down a bit, and we sort of chuckled and said that it was probably okay (God doesn't expect every bad habit to change overnight). But I asked her not to light up in the car, and offered for her to sit on our porch back home (we live just a few minutes away) where we could talk more. She appeared okay with the idea, but as we pulled into my driveway and the inside car light came on, it seemed to me that she maybe saw our faces fully for the first time and she got a little scared and wanted to leave right away. We comforted her and said that if she didn't want to sit on our porch, we could definitely drop her off to her brother's place back downtown, since that was where she was originally going. I just wanted to make sure she got through the door of a place where she could rest, so when we got back to High St. we asked where specifically it was. She told us that she was just going to meet her brother on the street, and though we were reluctant to just let her out like that, she was politely insistent and so we gave in. So we wrote down our phone numbers, told her to call us and invited her to h2o, which she was interested in coming to, and said goodbye. We watched her walk for a few minutes to make sure she was okay, but we lost sight of her in a parking lot as she was lighting her cigarette.

When we got back to my house (Colleen was spending the night), we were hopeful and prayerful that she made it to her brother's place okay and that even if she didn't come to h2o the next day that she would call us and want to talk more, because we didn't ask for her phone number. It's now Wednesday night and she hasn't called, but Sarah and I are still hoping for more opportunities to care for this hurting person. She told us where she works so we think we might 'bump into her' sometime soon.

Misty, if you ever read this, know that I shared this story here so that friends can pray for you and hopefully care for you as well. Please don't be embarrassed because you opened up so much to us; letting others in is the only way to let healing and trust begin, and that's just as true with God as it is with people. We're here for you if you need us.