Chance Encounters

I got to the church building early last night. I decided to just sit in the car and do some reading. The weather was balmy and the temperature was in the 60’s with a slight breeze blowing. It was almost Spring like. I had not be there long when a woman approached me. She ask if I was a minister or on staff at the church, and I told I her I was one of the members who worshipped here. She was probably in her 40’s but looked much older. Life had not been kind to this lady. The lines in her face told a tale as bad as the one she began to tell me. A child now dead from Aids. A boyfriend who gave her Aids now in jail. Life in a motel that was about to be padlocked if she did not pay the rent. She knew the name of our full time elder who works with our benevolent program, and told me he had been helping her with food and clothing, but she had an immediate need and he was not around. It is not unusual for there to be panhandler types in our parking lot from time to time, approaching members as they come and go. They all have convincing stories, and I am sure many of them are just that, stories. But there was an urgency in the eyes of this woman that I believed. I only had ten dollars to my name, so I gave it to her. There was such a look of relief on her face. She looked up and said, "Thank you God!", and then she thanked me and left to keep the "wolf" from locking her door. As she walked away I felt a need to do so much more than just give her money, but the situation was urgent and no time to talk of more important things. I thought of the woman at the well and her encounter with Jesus. Here too was a woman with a past that would make most of us blush. I believe these two women could have talked, compared notes and had much in common. Father bless this woman, and give us other opportunities to meet and share with her the wonderful "waters of life" that are available to her.