Angels in Texas

Living life spontaneously has long been a way I’ve known to really connect with God. So when I kept receiving emails about a regional youth conference of Christian Science churches in Houston, Texas, I thought it would be a great opportunity to witness God working in my life, but I had some other obligations and commitments I had already made.

But I kept getting emails about the event and decided to take a morning to really listen to what I was being told. This is what I heard: “You are made to witness, listen, and serve. That is your purpose, no matter where you are.”

I emailed a friend who was going to be playing music at the event and arranged to stay with him in his hotel. In a few days everything was set: my schedule had been cleared, and I was available to go.

The day before I was ready to leave, however, my friend told me that he would be leaving early. That meant I would no longer have a place to stay. At this moment a storm of suggestions hit me: You shouldn’t go. You don’t belong there. You don’t have a real reason to go.

These kinds of suggestions are definitely not thoughts from God, and they need to be actively countered. So I turned to God for inspiration: “What do you want for me, God?” I heard again, “You are made to witness, listen, and serve.”

So I got on the plane from early Saturday morning with no place to stay, little cash, but confident that this was an opportunity to witness our God in action. This was exactly what happened.

The line for taxis into the city was ridiculously long. I asked God what I needed to do and then I approached the group of well-dressed business people getting into the next taxi and asked if I could share it with them into the city. They agreed and we all piled into a taxi together.

Soon we started talking about what had brought me to Houston and I told them I was attending a church conference and would be performing some music. We had a full-blown discussion about what God was and how God has worked in our lives, and I gave them a couple of copies of the Christian Science Sentinel that I had in my bag.

After they got out of the taxi, the driver and I continued talking about God’s greatness. When we arrived at the church I asked him how much the trip was, and he just smiled, “Pay whatever you want.” I paid what I could afford, and was so grateful to see God expressing Himself in gratitude, generosity, and receptivity right there in that taxi cab!

The entire conference was just as inspiring! The Christian Science lecturer who led us on a walk around the neighborhood asked us all to express our gratitude and gladness with one another as we walked place to place. The lecture was beautiful to me because it trusted the Spirit to move us rather than a person.

The second talk I went to about happiness ended in a beautiful conversation with two young men about how we are all healers in our families and our communities. That night I was asked perform my song “Angels are Everywhere” with my friend.

I was offered a place to stay by one of the event organizers. What an expression of Christian fellowship and generosity! When I arrived at their home, I was able to sit on their beautifully landscaped back deck and give gratitude to God for taking care of all of my needs.

For the first time in my life, I prayed through the night. It was a humbling, beautiful experience. There seemed to be so much that was made clear to me by the Love that God had shown me that day. This passage from Matthew had real, practical meaning to me, “With men this is impossible; but with God [Love] all things are possible”. ¹

The next day was wonderful, as well. I caught a ride to the airport from some friends and had plenty of time before my flight to express silent gratitude to God for the entire weekend.

When I sat down in my seat on the plane I closed my eyes and asked God, “Use me as a vehicle for good. Let me serve you and witness your omnipotence.” Just as I opened my eyes a high-school-aged girl sat down in the seat next to me. I asked her for a pen to write down my gratitude for being able to hold a beautiful baby boy while his mother folded up his stroller.

When I asked her what she used the pen for, she showed me her Bible—marked and highlighted like crazy. This would be the best plane flight I have ever experienced. For the entire three hours we read Scripture aloud with one another and talked about God’s universal love for all people. The trip felt like it lasted only a few minutes! I learned so much, but most importantly, that Christianity is best expressed when we are praising God in everything we are doing.

And that is my prayer for all of you. I pray that your lives be filled with the Holy Spirit, each day another blessing and healing for you to witness and share. That you have open eyes and open hearts to realize that angels truly are everywhere and that we are never outside of the kingdom of heaven.

Posted on Monday, September 10th, 2012 at 8:31 am | Follow responses with the RSS feed
Topics: Supply