Seeing Jesus

This fall we had a sermon series on "Seeing Jesus". It has been very illuminating and given me much to think about and put into practice. This week I had an opportunity to put word to action.

I am moved into the new place but more boxes are packed than not. I have met several of the neighbors and twice I have had the chance to share the blessings God extended during the move. Two ladies in the laundry asked me how I was settling in while I was loading and folding clothes from the dryer. I laughed and said that God was good as things went fairly well considering I was profoundly ill on the day of the move. They asked me what I meant and I was able to share how even when things were going wrong in life I could count on God to see me through.

One lady named Gloria was intrigued and kept asking question after question. We spent about half an hour in the laundry room long after all our clothes were dry. She wanted to know how I could laugh about what must have been an awful day. I explained that knowing Jesus means knowing that all will work out for my good even when I can't see how it will. After we had chatted a while longer I told her I would love to tell her more of God's goodness to me. When we parted she said she might like to hear more another time.

To understand why this is really a big cause for rejoicing I'll have to share a bit of the back story with you.

Back in the summer I started looking for a new place to live as both my roommate and myself were unhappy will the level of service or rather the lack of service we were receiving at our old home. The management had put on all new staff and promised us that things would be better. We had decided to give them a second chance and made arrangements to move into another property they owned down the street. Just over a month before we were to move, a rainstorm caused massive flooding in our kitchen. They maintenance people kept saying they were coming but never showed up. This we took as a sign that is was time to look for another location. Thankfully we had not yet signed a new lease.

I found our current home on-line. I was checking it out because a friend had lived her several years ago and had enjoyed it. We both liked the floorplan and all the extra space. The rates were good and the staff seemed helpful and personable. The only drawback was the dryer would need to be gas and mine was electric. We decided to move and use alternative methods to dry the laundry until we could afford a dryer.

Because I wanted to do several loads, I washed them in the apartment and then walked the wet clothes to the dryer in one of the four laundry rooms on-site. If I had not been willing to let go of the dryer I would have never met Gloria and Marie.

While you may not think this is a big deal to me it is. We can never know when we will be the one to reflect the light of Jesus to others. When it happens you may be the only chance that person has to "see Jesus".

Hoping others see Jesus in me,

jene'