WWJDN?

So let me tell you about my day.

Today we took our high-schoolers from the YMCA to the Global Hope India headquarters - a ministry that is about to send 25 people to an unreached people group in India, including my friend Grace. I went about the morning thinking it would just be like any other fun service project we do every week, but then I met Val.

Val doesn't like the spotlight, which is why you can
barely see her in the middle of this photo.

Val is one of the assisted-living residents that shares the building space with Global Hope India. She is in her 60’s. Her hair is wild and loose, accessorized with a pair of old-school headphones. She was wearing crazy-colored tall socks, and is missing all but a few bottom teeth. She has one of the most beautiful and sincere smiles I’ve ever seen.

As we started talking, she really opened up to me about herself and her faith. She told me that she is not in contact with any of her family members, and that she doesn’t have any friends in the building. She told me that she loves spreading the love of Jesus, whether it’s going to the Sports Bar around the corner or volunteering with her church. While I was taking in how much Jesus meant to her, she unexpectedly blew me away.

She asked me if there was a Chick-Fil-A near our YMCA in Cary. Once I told her yes, she told me that God had laid it on her heart to buy our high-schoolers lunch for this week. She was so adamant about making sure that I didn’t tell them she was doing this, because she wanted this to be a gift from God and not from her. It had already seemed like such a nice gesture to begin with, but then I went with her to her room to get her money.

She opened the door, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. The only furniture was a beach chair, sitting on a piece of cardboard. No bed, no table, nothing. Surrounding the room were pictures and crafts she and others had made at church. Now at this point I felt terrible that she wanted to buy a Chick-fil-a gift card for 24 suburban high-schoolers, but she insisted that we go downstairs to buy it.

When we got there, she told the cashier “$250”. My jaw dropped, and I told her that was way too much money. Val responded a little insulted in the most loving way, telling me that I was not allowed to take away from her gift.

When we were getting ready to leave, Val pulled me aside and gave me an envelope with money inside. She said “I want you to give this to Grace, its all the money that was in my piggy bank. I didn’t even count it, but I know that God wants me to put it towards her trip.”

She hugged me goodbye like she meant it, fingers in clutched and her head nuzzled into my shoulder. She said she was so happy that this Divine appointment happened today, and that she was thankful for the opportunity to get to talk to someone. Her one and only prayer request was that God would place a friend in her life so that she wouldn’t feel lonely.

Val was wearing a “WWJD” bracelet inside out. Her explanation? “When you ask, what WOULD Jesus do, you’re leaving him out of your daily life. I know that Jesus is with me all the time, so I ask the question: What Will Jesus Do Next?”

-Dee