hey friends – meet kelsey. she helps out in kids at restór church, is married, works AND is going to school again…yes, b u s y!
she wasn’t on the panel sunday morning, but followed the same guide, purposed to hear/see the Holy Spirit in her very busy everyday life. here is her journal entry on 5/9 (emphasis mine):
“Today is our lunch “outing” day with a few of the gals I work with. There is one woman in particular who is an atheist on our team – but also one of my very best friend coworkers. She and I see eye-to-eye on a lot of work-related issues, however, when it comes to God, politics and morals, we definitely do not. Someone from our company recently got diagnosed with liver cancer. The conversation was very heavy as we discussed how this individual was given about 3 month to live. Lots of tears were shed and hearts were aching for his wife, whom he’s only been married to for 1 year. My friend expressed how awful she felt about the whole situation and how, if there was a God, “Why would he let something like this happen?”. My friend knows that I am a Christian, so she looked at me when she said that – usually I would feel intimidated and unsure what to say. However, I felt the power of the Holy Spirit over me and calmed me in a way I’ve not felt before. I asked her why she is so quick to blame God for the bad in the world. She then opened up about some of the problems and unanswered prayers she’s had in her lifetime that has led her to becoming an atheist. Things were left here – I wish we could’ve discussed more in depth, because I could tell something was pressing on her heart. However, I know God used those moments of her opening up to prepare for another conversation to be had in the future.”
kelsey also noted some bullet points of lessons learned:
• Sometimes all we need to do is just listen to the hurt.
• God doesn’t always allow conversations to be “resolved” right away, as he uses some moments to open doors in preparation for another conversation to be had in the future.
• Why is the world so quick to blame God for their problems? Why does Satan get off free??
• If we stand firm in what we believe, people notice that and secretly challenge our beliefs because they are interested in learning more – don’t take offense to negative comments about your faith, as it might just be a desperate plea to learn more.
thank you, kelsey!! eager to hear how this story unfolds …
i’ll be back with another story tomorrow.
brenda troyer
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