Holy Spirit, Move

I was meeting with a Pastor friend at a Mexican restaurant near her residence in Austin, Texas. We were multi-tasking: eating lunch and talking about spiritual matters. Guiding me through a spiritual growth process, she had asked me a series of questions provided in a manual.

One particular question asked if I had ever seen the Holy Spirit at work anywhere; and if so, to discuss. I began to talk about the work that God is doing in Uganda, telling of the things that I had written in a previous blog, A God-incident. This is about how God is working mightily in Uganda, using people like Katie Davis, Rev. Kimberly Burke, Amber Watney and some others that I know. I was sharing this story with the Pastor, when I was interrupted by the Waitress.

“Excuse me,” she said. “Could you please tell me what church you attend? I couldn’t help but to overhear your conversation. You both seem really nice and really cool, and I have been looking for a church. I think that whatever church you two attend would be a good one.”

I was so stunned that I just stared at my friend. Weren’t we just talking about seeing the Holy Spirit working? Wow! My friend wasted no time telling about the church where she is the pastor, where it is, what time they meet, what the congregation is like, etc. While she talked, I just stared with my mouth hanging open.

She conversed with the waitress about the worship preferences and opportunities; then she wrote down the address on something like a napkin.

I really didn’t say anything much. We were in Austin and I attend church in Buda, which is a good 10 minutes away. When I related this story to my pastor, he chastised me teasingly for not giving her every detail about our church. I explained to him that this lady lived in Austin, and seemed to be searching locally.

After the waitress departed, the Pastor commented briefly that we didn’t have to go all the way to Africa to see the work of the Holy Spirit. He meets us in restaurants in Austin, Texas and other unlikely places when we least expect it.

Then, she said, “in view of what just happened, I feel a little silly about asking you any more of the related questions. I think it is safe to say that we can just turn the page and move on.”

Several months later, she told me that the waitress indeed did visit, started bringing her boyfriend, and made that church her church home. She was not only a waitress; she is also an artist. My friend was praying for God to send them an artist. Then she asked in church one day if anyone knew of an artist who could do a project for the church. The waitress stepped up and accepted the project.

Have I seen the movement of the Holy Spirit indeed!

Amen.

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Thanksgiving Challenge and Joy Dare:

Today, I am Thankful for:

266. Artistic God-lovers disguised as waitresses.
267. Unexpected movement of the Holy Spirit.
268. Mexican food.
Linking up with Jennifer Dukes Lee at:

copyright 2012 by Kathy Robbins