Have you ever had one of those times when you just feel down, maybe even a little depressed, and God just comes through and shows you how much He loves you?
Monday finally came, my day off. I overslept, which bummed me out to start the day, because I had wanted to get up and just be able to relax and enjoy the Lord. That time was severely cut short because church started at 2:30pm and ended at 5pm, which is great and all, but it still requires energy and isn’t necessarily the most restful thing.
I felt rejuvenated after worship, but after our meeting I just felt down and didn’t know what to do about it. Then I had an idea, or at least I thought it was my idea at the time. (In hindsight I truly believe it was the Lord guiding me to my destination.) My friend had told me that I could get half-off coupons for pizza at Papa John’s (the best pizza here in Asia), so I decided to go.
When I got to the machine that spits out coupons, I discovered that Papa John’s was recently removed from the list! What a bummer – pizza there is rather expensive for my budget. However, I decided to still go, and threw up a prayer that I didn’t really expect or have much faith that God would answer “yes” on. “It would be really nice if when I got there, there was somehow a coupon for half-off so I could get or a deal or something.”
I went, ordered my pizza, and spent about an hour reading my Bible and just hanging out with Jesus. I played with a little girl that was 2 tables down. It was extraordinarily refreshing. Then I told the waiter that I wanted to “buy the bill” as it were, and he went to fetch it.
A small pepperoni pizza is 63 bucks in the local currency, a little less than 7 US dollars. The waiter came over and informed me what I needed to pay. Keep in mind, at this point I had all but forgotten my half-hearted prayer, and was just really happy at the joy that I felt inside. Guess what he told me?
31.5 bucks.
I basically did a double take, was very shocked, and asked him again, “Why?”. I was in disbelief. Did that really just happen?
Pizza was half price that day. Huh. Go figure.
God is so good!!
Between C-town and here in G-town, in the month that we have been here, 11 students have come into the family! This past week God has been bringing them in, with two earlier in the week, three yesterday, and one today! Praise the Lord!
Also, we baptized two other students not among those 11 today at my house! It’s almost unbelievable all that He has been doing, and in such a short time. Keep praying for us!!
One other exciting thing, is that we are trying out a little bit of a new strategy this year, and it’s working. I know of at least one case where one of the new believers has already shared the good news with all of her roommates!
Hope all is well. The temperature is finally dropping here, (although it’s supposed to spike up again later in the week) which makes for much more bearable and enjoyable living.
Adriel