As promised, I drove to our well-known meeting spot for church pick up and to my surprise stood Chicago and Steven (including his over-sized luggage bag) waiting patiently. I hadn't expected Steven, so I brought my car but we were able to make everything fit just fine.
We arrived to church early, as I normally do. Chicago was in awe at the size of our campus and sanctuary. We took our seats and enjoyed the delightful sounds of the worship team warming up for service. Steven was very quiet this morning, so that gave me an opportunity to converse with Chicago more. We discussed some more of the differances between Christianity and the Catholic church. I pointed out that we have no statues or idols to bow down to and he picked up what I was saying. I gave an analogy I had used before about a pilot flying with his coordinances off by just one degree and how after so long, you realize just how off track you are. I believe he understands where that one degree goes.
He told me about how he had spent the previous day walking to La Jolla. He told me how GOD has delivered him from any cravings of alcohol and how satan even tempted him. There were 2 full bottles of booze sitting near a bench he had passed and he admitted that it was very tempting but he knew in his heart it was wrong, so he kept on walking by and soon forgot all about the free booze he had passed up. I gave him a big hug and told him how proud I was. It was then that I realized I'm probably the only person thats told him such a thing in a very long time.
Sarah MacIntosh blessed us with her angelic vocals. (I get goosebumps everytime I hear her sing) Her new song "Come clean" hit the hurt soul of Chicago and the hair on the back of his neck stood up while the Holy Spirit spoke to him. Today's message struck both Chicago & Steven. On the way to church, I had shared that I've been volunteering for chair set up because I felt GOD speak to me. When Mike MacIntosh mentioned that very thing, they both looked directly at me with the same look on their faces. Chicago asked if he could come back, which of course I agreed to pick him up next week.
On the way back down the hill, both Steven & Chicago asked if I wouldn't mind picking them up Saturday to volunteer for chair set up. In short, it seems that GOD has spoken to another 2 men willing to help bless our church and make things a bit easier on our hard working Campus Service guys. My prayer for the week is that GOD will contimue to speak to them both, drawing them closer to Him each day.
As I drove away, I glanced in my mirrior and noticed Chicago clenching his new bible in one hand, while the other held a plastic bag of recyclables he'd kept in my trunk during service. There are certain moments in life where you wish you could capture that precise moment in a picture because 1,000 words wouldn't even be able to describe it... that was one of them!
