back to work today... i.e. back to coffee shops and cafes and virtual offices... trains... buses... all the fun... utah was great.. 5 days straight of skiing and snowboarding somehow. considering i was feeling the soreness on day 1, how i made it to day 5 could only be God's grace... He knows how much i love the mountains... the snow... the speed... the adventure... the challenge... and perhaps the pain and suffering... the numb feet in tight ski boots... the burning in the legs... sometimes i wonder why i subject myself to such suffering but i guess the optimistic side focuses on the adventure and fun... the exhiliration... the beauty of creation... ya know... all that good stuff..
was in sbux this afternoon/evening and a woman walks in, sits down next to me... what started as a convo about her pc laptop and my mac turned into a relationship of vulnerability and tears. i don't even know what caused me to talk or ask or what... but I guess sometimes when we put aside our personal agendas and busyness of life and let God lead, He opens the doors for conversation and for His compassion to pour out. Long story short, this woman's boyfriend had suddenly passed away and well... it's been hard... of course. She kept apologizing but really, why should she apologize? Thankful that God opened my eyes, ears, and heart to just listen and be there for her. We are His hands and feet, to those we know and those we don't know... to those in India and China and around the world.. but also right here at home. So many hurting.. so many... we need to ask God to open our eyes and ears and see the hurt.. and be His presence in our broken world.
Funny... well perhaps not funny... the woman sitting on the other side of me was speaking in tagalog to what sounded like her family in the philippines... my tagolog is quite limited but i think the gist was that she was catching up with her mom and dad and grand mom over the phone, and really missing being there with them. on both sides of me... tears... people sad and hurting for different reasons... people who might need the touch of JC. in my mind i was thinking... 'ok God... so... should i now turn to this filipino woman and start up a convo? shoudl we have a group cry-out? a group of strangers sharing and crying and counseling each other... right here... in sbux... right now... really???"
i did not get to speak to the filipino woman... but a third person did enter the scene later. i won't go into details but just really reminded that especially as a woman... you really need to be careful and act with prudence. dang man what's wrong with some men out there?!?! makes me so angry.. there are times to be vulnerable.. but always must be done with caution and much wisdom.
