I knew I had to go back. S had been on my mind all night. It had been especially cool, and I remembered her tank top and shorts. I put some snacks and a sweatshirt in a bag and headed downtown with the kids. I drove around looking for S, walked the circuit of blocks where she’d been, and never saw her. I started to question God’s promptings; maybe He just wanted me to obey Him. Like a test.
I was about to leave for home, when I caught sight of her sitting with a large man against a brick building. I asked if I could join them. She smiled and welcomed me to the cement, introducing me to M. “Smoke more weed” was written in blue ink on his jeans, and we quickly struck up a conversation. He was friendly. S told me M was just 18 and from a neighboring state. He was going to be her “street brother.” We sat and talked, and S showed me she had gone to the shelter I showed her the day before. She showed me the intake forms, telling me she didn’t want me to think she was lying. She was trying to get help, but didn’t want to get a restraining order against the man responsible for her injuries. I told her I understand that we all want to be loved.
When it was time to leave, I asked S if I could pray for her. She took my hand like the day before and smiled. I asked M if he wanted to listen, and without a word, he bowed his giant head. When I said Amen, M announced, “Hey, I have a favorite verse in the Bible. Wanna hear it?” Inwardly, I thought, “Oh this should be good,” but he straightened up and started to speak.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” (He really said “NO EVIL!”)
I was covered in goose bumps, realizing God was using a lost, pot smoking, homeless teenager on the street to speak truth to me. I recovered and asked, “Do you know the next part? It’s the best part. It’s the reason WHY we don’t have to fear when we’re in a valley.”
S said, “Sometimes I have a lot of fears. I can’t help it. I’ve seen a lot of things. I’m afraid.”
“The next part is the answer for your fears, S. ‘For You are with me,'” I told S & M.
“God’s presence is the reason why we have hope in our valleys. His enduring, sure companionship means we don’t have to fear or struggle. There is NO PLACE where God can not see us or be with us. Even if we have nothing and sit battered, beaten, and broken on the street or in a tent under a bridge, He will stay with us and wait for us to let Him be our Great Shepherd. He is WITH us.”
“Wow,” M whispered.
“Yeah, wow,” I responded. S’s eyes filled with tears as she said, “I’m really glad you came back.”
I told her I would come back again, and I did multiple times, but I haven’t seen S or M since that day. I pray they have started the climb out of the valley. Would you pray for them? If the simple but awesome truth that GOD IS WITH US in our valleys can bring comfort to a homeless teenager on the street, it should bring hope to us too. I’m grateful God used him in my life to tell me the most important thing we need to know when traversing a valley: HE IS WITH US.
I’m packing up and heading to India. Tomorrow I’ll share a fall recipe I made last weekend, along with more details about this journey I’m starting, as I would love to have your prayers as we travel and serve. By the time you read the recipe, I’ll be in flight and in a new timezone!
