48 Hours
But if I were you, I would appeal to God;
I would lay my cause before him.
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
Miracles that cannot be counted. Job 5:8-9 (NIV)
Finding a lost wallet along a busy street in Blue Ridge, Georgia didn’t seem that unlikely until after returning it to its owner. Meeting up with her a few days later in Atlanta I realized this event was not an improbable coincidence, instead a divine appointment for me. Agreeing to meet in a bustling parking lot provided a perfect setting for a quick exchange. As I handed her the wallet, we discussed the details of her losing the wallet and discovered it had laid on the ground 48 hours before I spotted it. Nothing had been taken from the wallet. That in itself was the first clue that our meeting may have a richer meaning.
Giving myself only a few minutes to make this delivery was short sighted. As we began to talk, the priority of the errands I was running began to fade. If you and I have ever talked, you know I take about 60 seconds of small talk before diving in deep - I am not wired for surface chats that last more than a minute or two.
My new friend, Baley, offered me a reward for returning her wallet. I declined and suggested she could make a small donation to our orphan care ministry, Saving Susan Ministry (SSM). We began talking about the work done through SSM. I wondered then if the subject of orphan care was the reason for our encounter. Baley, a recent college grad, commented she also had been through a lot of traumas in her young life. The conversation quickly unfolded as she shared her mother had taken her own life, by suicide. With great vulnerability she shared the negative impact this has had on her life. I knew the wallet was a conduit God used to bring us together. With powerful realization it made sense how the wallet went unnoticed laying on the ground during the previous 48 hours. We talked about the need to bring attention to mental illness, tear down the walls named ‘Stigma’ and work together to bring healing, hope and purpose for those who are affected.
If God can shelter a wallet in a crowded little mountain town, then
He can shelter those whose families struggle with the grip of mental illness.
He can perform wonders that cannot be fathomed.
I’ll keep you posted on where this leads as Baley and I have plans to stay in touch.
Please pray for this young lady, I sense God has special plans for her, as he does each of you.
If you know someone needing encouragement, share my website site with them as I would love to connect with others walking a similar path. https://www.tracyarntzen.com/
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