Miracle Story.

A year ago, I met a woman named Linda while serving at Karen House. During dinner, we started engaging in a deep conversation about faith and religion and just listening to her life story. It was such a great conversation, that after dinner we moved to the dining room to continue our talk about her thoughts about God while I continued to share my faith with her. At the end of the night, we exchanged contact info and I said I would try to come back and see her next week. Well, things got busy and I never got a chance to return to Karen House. Yet, we talked on the phone a couple of times after that. I found out Linda had gotten kicked out of the house for certain reasons and was now living in the streets and really struggling with certain things. Hearing about it all, was so extremely disheartening! All I could say to her, repeat to her, was how much God cared for her, and how I've been praying for her constantly each day. When I got off the phone with her, I cried and cried. My heart felt so broken for her! My roommates were kind enough that night to consol me then..I'm grateful to them.

Anyways, as most of you know, I'm AWFUL at keeping in touch on the phone+ HATE talking on the phone. My fear/dislike of phone kept me distanced from her for about year--til recent. She was always on the back of my mind, and I still prayed for her on/off for about a year but it became more scarce. Recently, I was talking with a friend who shared with me how he met a homeless man and told me his interactions with this man. It got me thinking about Linda, and I shared with him about how I felt convicted about God to reach out to this woman that I had met a year ago, but I had lost contact with her. I told him how I felt so soo guilty and angry at myself each day that I hadn't called her back/kept up with her..but still couldn't bring myself to call her. Anyways, my friend told me that it would mean so much more to call her today and tell her I was thinkin about her. So I told myself I would call her. One day became 2 days, 3 days, then weeks. I kept putting it off, kept putting it off. But during this time, I had started praying again for her, daily.

One saturday,I got off the phone with my friend who was like, you should call her! C'mon you have to do it. I said to him, "ok, fine.. this week. I promise!

That night when I was hanging out at a friend's place, I received an "unknown call" from an unknown number. I simply ignored the call because I was in a crowded room. The person called again. Somehow, I felt like this call was urgent... so I left the busy room to listen to my voicemail. As I listened to my voicemail:

"Hello...Tricia? This is Linda. We met at Karen House a year ago... I don't know if you remember me.. but I just felt like calling you somehow, and wanted to talk. Call me back, ok bye."

I was SHAKING!!! TREMBLING!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???! Linda, called ME. She didn't know about my conversation with my friend, she didn't know about how much I've been thinking of her!! I couldn't believe it...! That is no coincidence!! Even though I believe in God and the power of prayer, I couldn't believe what had happened...

After I got over my freak out moment and told all my friends what had happened, I went outside and called her back. I found out she was doing well, now living in an apartment. Her story is still sad. Her husband passed away recently, and her current b/f sexually abuses her, and her view on life is so distorted, with no hope. All she talks about is how ugly the world is and how broken people are. I didn't know what to say to her. Again, all I could tell her, repeat to her, was that God loved her. She didn't deserve an abusive b/f or need to see such an ugly, broken world. But just kept telling her, reassuring her that God loved her above any man. Any person. Know that God was reaching out to her, loving her each day.

Anyways, it has been a few weeks since I've talked to her, but please pray for Linda. Pray that I will stay constant in her life (that I will get over my phone-phobia) and that God will use me to reach out to her.