Katelyn

the first time i felt the prompting to give to her i winced
not because i deemed her unworthy
but because of the fresh cigarette she had hanging from her lip
and the fact of my severe sensitivity to cigarette smoke.

i knew that the simple act of rolling down my window to buy a paper from this contributor seller
would cause me to cough for several minutes
and my eyes to water uncomfortably

yet i knew she was the one that week
to receive the money i had stashed to give to a seller
(i purposefully sow into this work
of helping the homeless earn money
so they can buy a room for the night
or save up for an apartment
or simply buy food that day...good, nurishing food)

so i rolled down my window
and handed her a few bills
saying "i actually already have a paper this month
but wanted to give you this"

she shoved a paper through my car window anyway
before i could protest
and said "no, take one!"

i don't often see the same people selling
but this scene
with this woman
has been repeated several times over the last few weeks

and it's been a joy
to drive away
(coughing ;-)
knowing that i'm sowing into one person's life
one among many

because most of the people i give a wad of cash to
i don't see again for several weeks, if ever
this woman, i've seen at least 2-3 times per week for the last month.

yesterday was a little different

as i rolled up to her normal stop
i smiled as i realized she was there

and as i rolled down my window
she snuffed her fresh cigarette on the ground
before she came over

since the light was freshly red
we chatted a bit
she apologized for being "dirty" today
but explained it was for a good reason
because she'd come straight from her brand new part-time job
where she was doing some sort of manual labor
(she told me exactly what kind...i just can't remember)

she was beaming as she told me
that she still needed to sell the papers for awhile
but once she found a second part-time job
she could be done

i told her i'd pray for her
and she lit up
and said "pray hard, please!"
and proceeded to tell me that she'd broken up with her boyfriend of 3 years
earlier that week
because she felt God was telling her that He had better things for her
and that the boyfriend was holding her back

so join me in praying for Katelyn please.
one of many
who has impacted me greatly
while i thought i was making a difference in her life