“I can tell you love it,

because that’s what my face looks like

when I love something.”

She said these words with eyes red and puffy after a good moment of crying in the prayerful embrace of a loving team member from our church.

These are sacred moments when the truth of Jesus’ words are like arms to fall into, exhausted from the weight of life’s troubles, the ache of our hearts and the reviving taste of living water. She was alive in the moment, awakened by the Spirit, open and welcoming to the presence of Christ in the basement chapel.

But this is just an encounter, hopefully a seed was planted in the words prayed, the confessions made, the turning to Jesus that happened in the rushing tide of His incoming.

But time will tell, it’s His work to bring new life within someone. We just pray, wait and watch, looking for signs of a seed breaking open and something growing. Carefully tending possibilities with small but meaningful intentions. Praying.

Giving her a Bible and next steps material to help her understand what has happened and what to do next.

Picking her up for Church.

Loving her kids.

Encouraging her in the hard work of her moment in crisis.

Holding her in thought and intention.

Such a plan seems so fragile and vulnerable, like a newborn baby in the arms of a new parent. This is how life arrives because love is wild and dangerous.

I hope that all our moments of outreach are upheld with loving faces that bear the testimony that Jesus is good and He satisfies the soul. I pray that every worker we bring with us will shine with God’s glory, the glory that comes from a relationship that is deeply nourishing and real. I pray that each hand laid in prayer, each word said in encouragement, every song sung will be a witness to “taste and see” that the Lord is good.

When I helped her get out of the van at the shelter, I could see the look on her face that knows she’s back to mom duty and that’s no easy task with three young boys. I touched her shoulder and tried to encourage her to keep pressing forward little by little.

Inside I am praying the power of God will hold her, the love of God will pour out upon her and that new life will be stronger than any distraction, deception or challenge ahead.

Please join me.

Pastor Eric, Jacob's Well Spokane Wa.