When God Speaks, We Listen

While I sit here pondering what will be the affects of Tropical Fay to my home, I remembered an awesome thing that happened to me at Busch Gardens yesterday.

Well Christopher and I were about to board a ride, and as I turned around to see if there was anyone else behind us, there stood a young boy, approximately 10 - 12 years old. I noticed that there was one egg shaped ride left on the carousel with three seats. I felt this urge to invite him to sit with us, so he wouldn't have to wait for another turn when our ride was over. He agreed.

We sat cramped all together in this half egg shaped ride and as we went round and round we just engaged in small talk, mostly to keep Christopher from getting scared. As the ride came to a stop, we ended up having to wait for everyone else to get off before we could. At that moment as we were going around again, I felt another urge to ask him where he was from. He shared with me that he had just moved with his family from NY two months prior and how he missed home and had to leave his friends, family and pets behind. I shared that we were also from NY and that we have been here 2 years and that I too missed home, but I knew that we were in a good place. I encouraged him to hang in there and that I felt he was in a good place as well. He pointed out his parents and as we exited the ride I told him I hoped he had a great life here.

I caught up with Lina and as I am standing there with her, this woman approaches me and tells me, "I am not sure what you told my son, but I want to thank you". I was a bit confused as to why she was thanking me, and I told her that him and I had a candid conversation about back home. She said that, he had been struggling with the move, that he had been really withdrawn from them and misbehaving and not himself at all. They just had no idea what to do with him, they kept looking back and wondering if they made a good choice on the move because they understood it was hard for him, but being here offered them a better life.

The boys mom said that after the ride, he ran over to her and told her all about my conversation with him and how I too was from NY and on how he felt that everything would be OK. That based on what I told him, he was comfortable with the move now.

I tried to analyze what could I have said to him to change such behaviors, I mean it wasn't like I preached to him or anything like that, it was just a basic conversation. But as I looked back on that moment I realized that when God wants to touch someone and help them, he will use anything to get his point across, he will even use one of us in the simplest of ways.

I felt in awe that the Lord would choose to use me to touch a strangers life. Even in my own struggles and knowing that I may be not be where I need to be with God each and every day of my own life, he still takes special opportunities to use us in a mighty way.

On my ride home, I just lifted that boy up in prayer that God would just continue to touch his life and give his parents the strength that they need to make this move a successful one for themselves.

And also, I feel that this is God just showing me that no matter what I am going through or feeling, that there are others that may be going through the same and we can all share in it together.