My keychain from Jesus

Do you believe in God? Since I don't really know everyone who will read this, I can't be certain that you ALL believe in the one true, all knowing, perfect God. If you don't, or have never really considered it, I think this story may change your mind...

Monday morning I dropped C off at preschool and headed to WalMart with D. We did our shopping and headed to the van. As I pulled the shopping cart up to the side of the van and opened the sliding door, I turned to decide if I was going to put D in first or load in the groceries first.

I turned back towards the open van door and was completely startled to find a man standing near the back side of my van (by the gas cap). He was only about 2 ft from me. I never heard him walk up and he never spoke a word. He wasn't getting into the car parked next to me either. After my initial reaction (I jumped) I noticed he had an arm full of keychains. He handed me one. And in my still startled shock I quickly took it from him and said, "Oh, thank you." I glanced up at him hoping that was the last of our unplanned encounter, but he still stood there....smiling. He gestured towards the keychain. It was then that I notice the piece of paper hanging on it. This is what it said...

With my heart rate still a little raised and my mind a bit blurred, I immediately said, "Of course!" I reached in my purse and pulled out 2 $1 bills...which is SO rare that I even had cash, let alone 2 $1 bills. I never carry cash. Never. In fact the only reason I did is because I had just returned something to WalMart and was given cash back. I handed him the money and he gestured towards the keychains remaining in his hand as if to ask if I'd like to select a different one from the one he had handed me. I told him, "No, this one is perfect." I smiled. He smiled. I turned back around the put my wallet up and by the time I spun back around, he was gone. I was relieved.

My next thought after, "whew, I'm glad he's gone!" was, "Why on earth did I just buy a keychain I don't need from a deaf guy? Deaf people can work! I know deaf people who work! Ahhh, I am such a sucker!"

As I loaded the groceries and buckled D into his seat, I was looking all around the parking lot to see if the friendly deaf man was getting anyone else to buy his keychains....or was I the only sucker? I didn't see him anywhere. As I pulled out of the parking spot and drove to the exit, I continued to look for him. I didn't see him. As I looked, a bible verse came to mind. All I could think of was (and this is exactly how I quoted it in my head), "you fed me when I was hungry...you clothed me..." I couldn't think of the exact verse, but I knew the gist of what I was quoting in my head.

The it entered my mind, "Did I just buy a keychain from Jesus?"

I never saw the man as I drove out of the parking lot. I never heard him walk up, I never heard him leave. All day I kept thinking about the bible verse that I needed to look up. Later I told my mom the story and how I was about 90% sure, I bought the keychain "from Jesus."

Then as if all that weren't enough, God spoke as clear as day to me the next evening. Did you read my last entry, Mommy Meltdown(s) where I spoke at the end that I was going to go take a bath? Well, I did take a bath and I brought with me my devotional, Faith Deployed.

In the tub, still kind of a teary mess, I began to flip through the devotional to find out where I had last left off...for some reason, my dog-eared fold had come out and I needed to re-find my place. I found the chapter and then scanned through 2 devotions that I had already read before I got to the next "new" one. I began with the verse at the top of the page - the verse that the devotion would focus on.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Matthew 25:35-36

Seriously!!! It was THE verse I was trying to quote in my head just the day before...it was THE one verse my devotion was about. It was exactly what God was trying to tell me...He WAS there. He was there in the parking lot. He is here now. He was there and he hears me. If you read Mommy Meltdown(s), you'll know what I am talking about. I have been practically begging God for an answer about B's deployment and his future job. God still hasn't quite answered that yet, but he did speak to me. He is there. He saw me in the parking lot. He saw me blogging my heart out Monday. He spoke to me in the tub...He is there. And He is involved in EVERYTHING!

Praise God! Praise Him for my keychain blessing. Praise Him for sending that small hispanic deaf man to my car in the WalMart parking lot. I don't know if that man is with his family right now in North Carolina or if he was an angel and is now back in Heaven, but either way, Thank You for sending him...