I'm riding the top deck of the Staten Island Ferry for the first time, and it is absolutely beautiful and peaceful. Moments like these are beautiful opportunities to reflect on where I'm finding Christ in my everyday life. I am remembering a few interactions I had the last couple of days with some exceptional people.
I went to Sheetz gas station in Manassas to refill my tires (they had been mysteriously running low and I suspected there was something wrong.) I couldn't get an accurate PSI reading, so I went inside to ask for help. the employee not only took a full 10 minutes to explain the system to me and refill all the tires herself, but she also said "come on in and have a coffee- it's on me!" (Side note: Anyone who knows me knows that offering me coffee is the quickest way to my heart.) Then she recommended Tire Zone right up the street to get my tires looked at.
I went there and the guy didn't try to sell me a new tire; he just removed the pesky screw lodged in it and plugged it- and wouldn't let me pay anything. They may not be winning any Nobel peace prizes or making $100K a year, but these people were Christ to me and that is so much more important!
Sometimes I lack of deep prayer experiences for weeks on end- I just don't feel God's love pouring out on me when I pray, the way I sometimes have in the past. And it gets frustrating because I want and even expect to feel and see and hear things when I pray. But I am realizing that it is through people that God sometimes speaks strongest. He speaks through the kindness of people you encounter. He has spoken to me so often this year through the kindness and gentleness John shows me. I will always desire to see and hear and know Jesus directly in prayer, but in some ways it is even better to experience Him through people because it reminds me how connected we all are. The smallest kindnesses can have an immeasurable effect no matter what your religious beliefs. You CAN be Christ to someone, right now! Isn't that a beautiful thought?