Second Chance

The last time I blogged I spoke of when I was at Starbucks and essentially missed an opportunity to at least love on a guy whose dad recently had a stroke. I again went to Starbucks the week before Thanksgiving again to do some quiet time. This time I ran into two old high school friends. One I learned had turned to the Lord and was attending the same church that my aunt goes to. The other was still a Buddhist though a different type of Buddhism than we were raised with.

I immediately knew that the Lord was giving me a second chance to share the gospel with someone. And this time, I didn't flinch at the opportunity. I told my friend that I loved him enough to disagree with what he believed in and went on to tell him about the love of Christ for him regardless of anything in his life. Thank you Lord for second chances.

Not Bold Enough

So I really tried to focus on having a Sabbath day yesterday because of all the time I have to help out with my dad at home every day. I went to church...did some window shopping then decided that instead of going home to read the Word, I would go to Starbucks because 1) I might have an opportunity to talk to someone there and maybe share my faith and 2) so I would actually do my reading. The first option was based on a lot of what God is teaching me and how I need to be bold for my Lord.

So I grabbed my grande soy Chai latte and went outside to find a table. There weren't a lot of people there so it was easy to find a place to sit. However, I sat facing away from the Starbucks because in all honesty I didn't want to be distracted by people watching. While I was sitting there reading through the book of Hebrews, I heard a conversation happening behind me. A guy was talking to two women who were sitting outside and sharing about how his dad back in Florida had a stroke recently and he was going to visit him. However, he didn't want to really go. People were encouraging him to go so that he wouldn't have any regrets. My first thought was this guy is going through the same kind of thing that I am. I stopped reading and began praying fervently for him as he continued his conversation with the Lord.

God was opening a door to share and love on this guy who I'm guessing by some of his language that he was not a believer. I told God first let me finish reading the chapter I was on then I would approach him. When I finished the chapter, he wasn't there. So began to wrap up my things and made my way to the car. I got into the car and put everything in its place. After I started the car, I looked up to see he had returned to his table. Now my dilemma. Do I shut off the car and go to talk to him or do I just drive off? I went back and forth what seemed like a hundred times in the matter of seconds, and finally decided to drive home.

The whole way home, I knew that I should have talked to the guy. I knew that I could have possibly made a huge difference in his life. But yet I was a coward...too selfish to stop where I was in reading and go love on this child of God. Too prideful to shut down the car and get out. Since then, I've been praying for boldness. I need it desperately not only for myself but for others who don't know Christ. Paul tells us in Romans 1:16, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." I hope that next time I will have the boldness to proclaim God's love to those who don't yet understand their need for a Savior. I pray also that if you get an opportunity to share God's love with others, you don't talk yourself out of it.

Home in the U.S.

I'm not sure how many of you know all that has been happening with my family back home. At the end of August, my dad had a pretty bad stroke. It has pretty much crippled the right side of his body and affected most of his speech. As a result I tried to time an unplanned visit home to help out my mom and brother as they care for my dad.

My dad was released out of the hospital about a month ago and my mom and brother have been caring for him pretty much 24 hours a day. He has improved a lot since he has arrived home. By the time I arrived here on Nov 5., he was in much better condition than before. I can't compare his condition now to before since I wasn't here and my mom chooses carefully what to share with me over the phone when any of my relatives is "sick". But I can say that I expected something much worse than what I found. To me, the biggest obstacle for us is the fact that he has to go to the bathroom often and often wets the bed because of lack of someone there to help him. He can't get out of bed without help so he just has to go where he is. Speech is obviously a problem as he struggles communicate his needs. I guess it's somewhat like having a baby in that he screams/cries for help, but then it's up to us to figure out what he needs. My mom and brother have figured that out for the most part and I think I'm learning quickly about his needs.

We have been working on exercises both physically and for speech to help him recover from his stroke. The other day I was doing speech therapy with him, just asking yes/no questions. He has good understanding of what we say to him; it's just difficult for us to understand his responses. So I asked him a question that was pretty obvious one way or the other and he just began laughing. The question..."Do you like the SF Giants?" It was funny to him because I love the Dodgers. Anyway, we have a long road in front of us, but by the grace of God, we will get through this.

For those supporting me, I will be home caring for my dad until Jan. I am mostly in Northern California near S.F. because it's where my family is. However, I plan to make some trips down south. Hopefully I get to see you while I'm here. Please pray for us as we help my dad and pray for the salvation of my family as the have yet come to know the love of Christ.