Our pastor has challenged me to pray for more opportunities, and boldness, to share the love of Christ with others. God promises that when we pray in line with his wishes, he hears us. And a request for divine appointments is a prayer God loves to answer!

Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:24)

As I understand it, asking in Jesus’ name means I’m asking in line with his will, his heart.

Perhaps I was just more aware, but it seemed over the past two weeks there have been several significant encounters with others.

Divine Appointment with a Person Serving the Poor

One day I dropped some items off at Cityteam. This Christian organization serves many homeless, poor, and addicted individuals. Classes to achieve GEDs, clothing and food distribution, a ranch and an addiction recovery program are just some of their ministries.

Raul asked if I wanted to see the operation inside, and I did. He first showed me a large cold storage room that held milk and cold foods, fruits and vegetables that have been sorted to deliver to about 8000 families in the San Jose area.  There’s a large open room for sorting clothes, some of which are dispersed through schools or churches in various communities. Another room was filled with non-perishable food. A whiteboard listed where they deliver every day, and to how many families. I believe he said they served 270 families the day I was there.

He then introduced me to two other employees, one of whom remembered my friend Kathy Woodward, who was in charge of the education center for years and has now passed on to glory. It was an awesome opportunity to learn how many families are being served by this ministry. https://www.cityteam.org/give-help/san-jose

Divine Appointment with a Tech Repair Person

Another day, Don and I went to purchase an upgrade for his phone. Sean was gracious and very helpful. As we talked, I made some comment to which he replied “Amen.”

“You say Amen like you’re a believer,” I commented.

“Well, I was raised Catholic but I’m not really involved in the church now,” he said.

Don and I shared how God brought us together after losing our prior spouses; and that God wanted a relationship with him.

“This is a good time for me to have this conversation because I’m at a crossroads in my life.” Sean shared that he is hoping to have passed the entrance exams he took recently to start law school.

We promised to pray for him and encouraged him to read the books of John and Romans in a current translation. He expressed his thanks and sent us on our way with a new phone.

Divine Appointment with an Editor/Publisher

Photo by Jill Burrow

Another morning Don and I went to Boulangerie for a late breakfast. A young woman sat across from us, reading THE VILLAGER…our local newspaper. While I was sure she was too young to live in The Villages (55 and over) I asked if she was a resident.

Zea is not, however, she works for The Spotlight, a magazine about The Villages, and was doing background research. We talked about how long we’d lived there and mentioned we attend church right around the corner from the Boulangerie.

“That’s my church,” she said. “I don’t attend very often but when I do, that’s where I go.” Zea is also entering a new season of life with an engagement on the horizon. We had a marvelous conversation about God, His faithfulness, Don’s and my story, and her own faith walk, and committed to meeting each other at church September 1^st, the first day we will both be available and present.

Be Open to, and Ready for, Divine Encounters

I love the way God opens doors when we listen to Him and are sensitive to those around us. https://www.carolloewen.com/its-a-god-thing/ I’d love to hear some of your stories about such encounters in your life. Our culture tends to be so busy and so self-focused (our needs, our families, our friends…) that I wonder how many changes I’ve missed to share God’s love with those around me….

• The woman who sits alone on a bench, not making eye contact with anyone, who may desperately need someone to reach out and say “I care. Can I help?”
• The father and son who stand outside a grocery store, asking for help to meet their rent and buy food while he is without a job.
• The elderly woman crossing the street, trying to rush so she won’t be hit.
• The child who is disruptive in Sunday school because he either needs medication (and his parents may not realize it), or needs extra attention to help him feel secure.

A beautiful old hymn written in the late 1800s by Clara H. Scott captures the need to see, hear, and speak.

Open my eyes that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me.
Place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.

Open my ears that I may hear
voices of truth thou sendest clear,
and while the wave notes fall on my ear,
ev’rything false will disappear.

Open my mouth and let me bear
gladly the warm truth ev’rywhere.
Open my heart and let me prepare
love with thy children thus to share.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my mouth, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Let that be my prayer!