Faith Stories: GO ON
Mike and I had the privilege to attend Youth 2015 with our St. John’s Youth along with 4,500 other youth in late June. Wow, what a wonderful time together to worship as one community of faith. We all shared one thing in common: the love for Jesus Christ.
Everything was labeled with GO ON. It was everywhere on t-shirts, banners, videos and books. Everywhere you looked there it was: GO ON. It was our last night of worship gathering on Sunday night, and The Rev. Olu Brown from Impact Church in Atlanta took the stage. Pastor Brown’s message that night really got to me. “Orlando is great, but you can’t stay here,” he said. “It’s time for you to go back and carry out the mission of Jesus. Being a disciple doesn’t mean you are perfect but that you are willing to be changed from the inside out.”
It was a typical Monday afternoon at work, it was raining again, actually storming or so it sounded as I stood in the warehouse. I had 30 minutes of work left and was watching the clock. I walked inside to return to my desk, and I saw a lady on our front porch taking shelter from the storm. I don’t work in the best part of town. We lock the front door right after the mail is delivered. But this day, the mail was late and the door was unlocked. I invited her in, and she politely declined and said she was walking home and would wait for the rain to stop. This storm was different; you could tell it wasn’t going to stop. So I asked her if I could drive her home, and she accepted. I went back inside to tell my co-workers I was bringing her home. One said, “Would you like my gun?” I quickly said “no thank you, I have God.” One coworker looked at me like I was cray-cray, and the receptionist was trying to talk me out of going and I said to her, “Love thy neighbor.”
We drove on South Choctaw toward Sherwood Forest and she asked, “Can you take me to pick up my kids at daycare?” I replied, “Of course.” We picked up Alex and Alexandria, who are 6 and 7 and precious as they can be. They get in the car with the biggest smiles and happy hearts.
I was different this day. I kept thinking, “How can I take Pastor’s Brown message to GO ON in my life?” After meeting Yolanda and her precious kids I realized there are so many things in our busy lives that we can GO ON to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Offer a smile, say hello, open a door, be nice, offer someone a ride and trust in the Lord with all your heart.
As they were all getting out of my car, Yolanda called me “an angel,” but in fact, I believe she was mine.
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Stephanie Worthy