How God can Move when We Show up....

Yesterday I met God in the most unlikely place...
or maybe it's not unlikely at all...
maybe He's always there...
I just took the time to finally
show up!

You see...
Yesterday I was invited to tag along...
and hand out Christmas cookies I didn't bake...
to people I didn't know...
at a soup kitchen I had never been to...
And...
well...
God was there!

Normally I'm not the girl to just walk up to strangers and talk.
I don't feel safe around men I don't know.
And a year ago I would of been turned off being asked
again and again...
"Did you come here for a meal?"
or "Are you hungry?"...
When walking into a soup kitchen.

But something happens 
when I say yes
and show up
in uncomfortable places.
Something that I can't explain.

It's as if 
every fear
every doubt
every lack
I have
gets
washed away
and
God takes over.

All of a sudden
I am free...
able to love...
willing to serve...
longing to just be...
there
with people
who somehow become
my people.

There's a connection of hearts
that takes place
that's not of me
and I want to know "them".

And so....
I find myself listening to Carmela 
as she talks about her up coming birthday
and I'm already trying to work out in my head
how to surprise her with the home-made cookies she longs for on that day.

And

I watch the smile and pride on Bill's face
as he takes us outside to show us "his" mural
and I can't help but think
Next time I want to be standing by his side
when he does this.

Then I take a moment
And sit on the bench in silence
and just look around...

I see people smiling and hugging
Everyone knows each other by name
They are a family joking and making fun of one another...
And I know
This is community...
God is here...
and in this moment...
I've been invited in
and We are one.

This is what happens
when we say yes
and show up....
God MOVES!