Coffee Time-Helping A Woman In Trouble

January 28, 2023January 28, 2023 ~ jesusluvsall ~ 23 Comments

Yesterday evening after my Friday English class at the Ukrainian church, I was joined for coffee by my friends Alex, Ruslana and their daughter Ester at a coffee shop in my city called Telegraph Mill. The barista who helped us was kind to my friends, so I shared with her that they are from Ukraine. I found out she is an education major currently student teaching at a school that has a few Ukrainian children.

While I was enjoying coffee with my friends, the barista came to our table to ask if I speak Spanish. A woman in the coffee shop needed help. I went over the her table and spoke with her in Spanish. The poor woman did not know her address or a phone number to call for family. She seemed confused. My suggestion was to call the police hoping an officer who speaks Spanish would come.

Two officers came but they did not speak Spanish, They asked me to translate. The poor woman had a difficult time tracking with any conversation. They asked me to ask her if they could take her to our People’s City Mission. She agreed. It was a relief she agreed because the People’s City Mission will know how to help her.

Such moments of interaction, of showing a bit of kindness, are part of why I am so grateful Jesus has led me to my ministry and work. It is also why I am grateful he led me to study Spanish thirteen years ago.

Jesus knows our future and how it all fits together. He knows how we are wired. When he prompts us to do something, there might not be immediately visible reasons, but we trust in him remembering the truth of Ephesians 2:10:

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Tired Teacher

October 14, 2022 ~ jesusluvsall ~ 18 Comments

Fall break is here for all of my classes. After a morning teacher’s meeting today, I am off until next Wednesday. Last night I realized how much I need it. It is safe to say I was TIRED. One of the issues that bothers me the most, besides constant pain, about living with chronic illness is fatigue.

While other teachers were talking about short trips to visit family or projects to get done around home, my thoughts were of doing things like sleeping and taking naps. 🙂

But I have a feeling that next Monday and Tuesday will also involve time at the coffee shop to do more writing. I might even see other teachers there who are summer regulars at the coffee shop, but too busy to hang out there during the school year.

The top of my list for next Monday and Tuesday is along the lines of Luke 5:16 and following the example of Jesus.

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

It is from times of prayer that refreshment comes and this teacher needs that.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Coffee Shop- Praying for People I Meet There

September 7, 2022 ~ jesusluvsall ~ 10 Comments

Yesterday afternoon I stopped in at the coffee shop I spend time at during the summer. Over the course of this past summer, God has blessed me with many divine appointments there. It happened again yesterday when I chatted with a young woman named Payton.

She is working on her Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Counseling. When she told me that, I shared with her about the book I will be publishing soon. That led to a conversation that let me know how to pray for her. She is open to Jesus and Christianity, but her view at this time is like that of many young people. She doesn’t go to a church. She wants to focus on being spiritual.

The prayer need most on my heart is for Ty the teen boy who I met this summer. We planned to meet on Tuesday afternoons for a time to study. My desire is to help him with school work and share Jesus in the process. Yesterday he did not come. I received a text message from his grandmother letting me know he never showed up for school. She reported him to the police as a runaway. He has had a troubled life with multiple traumas, the death of both parents and being the one to find his grandfather had died. He is also very small for his age. I think of Luke 15:3-6 when I think about Ty.

Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

Melanie is a young woman I met and only saw one time there. She is working on her Master’s Degree in Sociology. She is an agnostic who grew up Catholic. I told her I would pray for Jesus to show her that he is for real. I pray each day for God to bring someone into her life to share Jesus with her that day.

God connects us with people for a reason and after that connection, it is a privilege to pray for the person.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.

A Coffee Shop Kind of Day

August 20, 2022 ~ jesusluvsall ~ 19 Comments

It’s a coffee shop day and I am looking forward to meeting a few people. It will start off with Todd my friend from childhood. Then my friend Lina from Mexico will meet me to help me practice Spanish. My third appointment will be with the teen boy who I will be tutoring this school year. I shared about him in Another God Appointment in the Coffee Shop.

Fortunately the bus that stops a few blocks from my home has a bus stop one block from my coffee shop. Otherwise there would be no coffee shop day.

I am going to set up a Go Fund Me to try to raise money to help me to purchase a different vehicle. That is one of my projects for the day after my appointments at the coffee shop. The other is to finalize my two books or should I say begin to finalize. I hope to publish them within a month.

The reason for setting up a Go Fund Me is due to living with chronic illnesses medical expenses take up a chunk of my monthly budget especially the first five or so months of the year due to deductibles. Well that and the fact that my two teaching positions are part-time, Those and my home missionary position support combined come out to less than $2,000 a month.

I am grateful to be called to what Jesus has me doing because it has allowed me to share Jesus with people from all over the world. My city is home to refugees/immigrants from many countries. That is why the title of one of my books is Lifted Out of the Pit/Called to the Nations.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.