Divine Appointments or Picking Up Strays

I have a reputation within my family of 'picking up stray's; people who look like they need a ride or a friend or someone to talk to. I don't do this as often as my family seem to think but occasionally God has directed me to give someone a ride somewhere. I have also heard these refered to as divine appointments. A divine appointment is when you 'bump' into a stranger and by the time you have reached the end of this meeting you know that God had intended it to happen all along. My first experience with this type of thing was when I was in High School and my boyfriend (now my hubby) and I picked up a hitchhiker and took him home to my parents. My mother fed him put him up for the night and my dad took him to the highway the next morning. I know I know it's a dangerous world we live in, but hey when the God of the Universe looks after you it makes you a little bit fearless! Anyway he said something to my mother that morning that caused her to believe that he was an angel who was with us during a major crisis the next month. I have no reason to doubt her. Anyway this began a career of asking God if I am supposed to reach out to people when I see them on the street. Usually if I have to ask Him that question He tells me no; but if He wants me to do something He begins to put thoughts in my head. For instance this morning I was headed to a women's fellowship hosted by my church with my daughter when we saw this young woman walking down the street, she kept looking back at the traffic behind her and she looked like she had had a rough night. Her appearance made me wonder about her evening 'activities', then I heard 'the voice' causing me to wonder where she was going, was she going to have breakfast, did she need anything, maybe I should stop and invite her to our fellowship so she would have something to eat. Now I admit I argued with Him because I needed to get to the church for this fellowship, but then I got that feeling in the pit of my stomach and I muttered under my breath "Oh alright!" My daughter turns to me and says "We're turning around aren't we?" "Yes" I said. So we turned around, found her and invited her to come with us. She declined, but said that she was headed home and could use a ride. She talked alot as we rode to the church so that I could let in any ladies waiting for me. I grabbed a bulletin and a business card for a friend who does addiction counseling and began to take her home. It turned out that she was living in some apartments owned by friend who also attends my church, now what are the odds of that!! God is so good and obviously has plans for this girl. I left my number with her in case she wanted to go to church some Sunday and went on my way. Extra-ordinary event in the midst of the ordinary!! One of my favorite songs is 'Going through the Motions" 'I don't want to spend my whole life asking what if I had given everything instead of going through the motions' May God always show me how to give my everything.

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