When Helping Hurts

Well, I could talk about my rare eye infection I got this week, or I could talk about taking a pretty big tumble while hiking, but instead, I am going to talk about something else.  All these things that have happened this week were funny and would be easy to write about, but I am going to write about this lady, Roberta, that I met yesterday.  Roberta is a homeless lady who claims to have travelled all around the world.  She shared a bit of her story, and my heart was breaking for her.  I have never felt so helpless in my life.  It was hard for me to just sit and listen to her, and pray with her.  I realized that all I could do to help is to just pray for her.  All I wanted to do was go and bring her everything she needed, a sleeping bag, jacket, and a place to stay, but all I could do was pray.  I know that God is trying to download something in me through this, but my heart is still so heavy.  Roberta taught me not to give up on my dreams though.  While we were talking, she shared with me that her dream was to one day be famous, or jokingly one day be the first lady president.  Even though she was homeless, and it seemed as if there was no way out of her lifestyle, she still had the passion for her dreams.  I should never give up on things that I am passionate about.  Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  If our focus is on God, our desires that we have will be centered around God.  It is almost comical how people look at homeless to bless them, but Roberta blessed me.  Even though it is still heavy on my heart right now, I am so thankful that God placed me to meet her this week and for her to change my view on life.  God’s way of using us, and using other people for us will always blow my mind. His faithfulness has been so evident this week in my life.