God is Good

I can't sleep. I haven't slept a bit all night. This has become a normal occurrence for me but tonight there's a reason for it. I can't stop thinking about what just transpired less than two hours ago:

I met this man. He was man of 62, a former Marine who'd been in the Vietnam War, and he has a 39 year old mentally disabled son. This man's name is Jack. Jack taught me something tonight. Something really powerful. He taught me that God watches over His children. He taught me that God is in control. He taught me that even when I don't know what God has in store, it's going to be all right.

How did I meet Jack?

I was eating a 2:30am snack from McDonald's in a downtown park with a friend. Jack, with his cart, rolled by us. We offered him the third burger we'd bought (despite there only being two of us, we just, for some reason, bought three) and some water we'd just bought at the Speedway we'd returned the movie to (returning said movie was our main reason for being out so late/early). Jack found out we were Christians and he was thrilled. We all began to converse, but mostly we were interested in Jack's life. He told us about the church he'd been going to, about being in the Marines, about his son, and about why he was out at such and hour. See, we thought he was just another homeless man, but come to find out, he wasn't at all. He had a home, but not enough money or items or food to care for both himself and his disabled son. Jack's determination and joy in Christ was awe-inspiring. He was just so sure that God would take care of him. He was a happy old man and I immediately came to love him for his spirit.

My friend and I offered him a spare blanket we had in our car, an old military poncho, about $9 in cash, and some advice about where more water spickets were downtown. As our conversations wound down and warm goodbyes were about to be said, Jack asked if we could pray. He said he always prayed with new people he met if they would let him. He wanted God to be with us. Again, I was just blown away. So we prayed. He asked me to start, I did. And we went around our little circle, each praying and thanking God for His mysterious ways and praising Him for His provisions and asking for Jack's protection.

As we parted ways, I couldn't help but want to do more for Jack. My friend and I went home, which was about 4 blocks from there, and found some more bottled water and a few canned goods that wouldn't be missed. But when we went out to find him to give it to him... we couldn't find him. We drove for an hour around downtown looking everywhere we could think. But still, no Jack. How could such a frail man with a relatively heavy cart move so quickly? It was beyond us.

Now what are we gonna do?

We think we know how we can find him, and if it's God's will, we'll meet him again. In the mean time, if anyone who reads this could just say a prayer for Jack, that'd be great. Pray that God will continue to provide for our friend and Jack will continue to inspire people with his simple but profound ways.

And why is this whole ordeal so cool?

The thing about the encounter with Jack is that if just ONE thing that happened throughout my day had NOT happened, this encounter would not have happened. If I had not of went home when I did that morning; if I had not of gone to the lake and gotten super hungry thus getting food and renting the movie with my friend; if we had not of run later than normal thus putting back the time we took the movie back; if we had not of taken the movie when we did; if we had not of pulled into that particular park instead of my favorite park... It all just adds up to God being in control. It's so crazy insane to think about. My God is an awesome God.