Catch up on part one or part two of Wanda's story.
***
Tammy let out a small gasp when she opened the door and found us on the other side. I was expecting a very dramatic moment. Either a radical reunion filled with weeping or some type of bad confrontation. Tammy's gasp was so…..small. Surprise instead of shock. And…then we just stood there. None of us saying anything. Wanda smiling. Tammy with her eyes closed. Me awkwardly forcing myself not to make a joke. Instead I decided to say something completely profound – “Hey.”
Tammy asks us to come inside. My heart is racing and I'm thinking….no one knows where I am! It's funny how stupid fear is when God has already shown up time and time again to provide. So, I force myself inside behind Wanda and Tammy and we go down a small hallway into a living room. There's a chair and a love seat in the room as the seating options. I'm, of course, hoping for the chair. I can whip out a legal pad of paper, do some counseling, fix some communication stuff and be all relational and such. As I'm concocting my master plan, Tammy plops in the chair – leaving Wanda and I the love seat. C'mon…
So, we sit down. I look over at Wanda and she's still just GLOWING with happiness. Huge smile. And I'm thinking….”dude, if you're so happy why don't you TALK to her and save me all this discomfort.”
Tammy says, “I knew you were coming, you know.”
Wanda replies, “How did you know I was coming?!”
Tammy raises her eyebrows and says, “Not you Mom. Her.” as she looks at me.
Um, what. No, seriously, what? Not possible.
She goes on to say, “I had a dream about you last night. You were walking up to my door and money was falling out of your pockets. Change. Some coins.”
Wanda starts jumping up and down, seriously, and starts saying
“TELL HER WHAT THE COINS MEAN, STACIE! TELL HER ABOUT GOD'S COIN PROCESS!!!”
I spend some time telling Tammy all about restoration and tell her some crazy stories about God being good. It was amazing. It was humbling. It wasn't about some Gospel presentation. It was just about Jesus.
I talked with them some more.
Wanda asked Tammy, “Where do we go from here.”
Wanda's going to live with Tammy. They're going to work on a relationship. I'm sure things won't be quickly fixed or painless for either them. But Wanda's not doing it all on her own anymore. The restoration process is in full swing. We exchanged numbers and prayed together.
The drive home seemed to last 30 seconds for me. I flopped on my bed as soon as I got home drenched in a mixture of sheer exhaustion, gratitude, adrenaline and the stench of disbelief. It looks like God finaly gave me some lyrics to the rest of the song I've been playing around with on my guitar.
See, I know God's capable of anything. Sometimes I just struggle with whether or not He's willing. I've seen miracles in my life. Big ones. Ones that can only be explained by giving God glory. I've had God speak to me and put people on my heart or a word of encouragement or illustration at just the right moment.
I've seen God heal the sick and restore hope to the broken. I've been on both sides of that equation.
But theologically, can God tell someone in a DREAM about me?! Can He orchestrate an encounter soinsanely amazing that it renders itself almost… unbelievable. The answer is fairly uncomplicated…YES.
Maybe where the mind fails to comprehend, faith takes over.
Maybe it's not about whether or not things make "sense".
Maybe the box we've been trying to put God in for years just doesn't quite contain all He's not only capable but WILLING to do. If He's the same yesterday, today and forever – why do we assume that He suddenly loves people these days so….humanly. Human love writes people off after mistakes, walks away and sets conditions and a system of “earning” things. Maybe God's love is so, so much bigger than that.
Maybe, just maybe God doesn't just listen to our prayers….He speaks. Maybe He shows up in dreams and illustrations and visions and during worship and while we're pondering life in the shower or asking for mercy when we've just made yet another stupid decision. Because that's who He is.
Maybe God knows me well enough to know that unless He did something insanely HUGE that I would have allowed myself to downplay the entire encounter.
Maybe He knew that, like Wanda, I needed some encouragement….some LIFE again.
Guess what, friend – God's in the restoration business and He's using an army of misfits to conquer the war against the Enemy. Satan's already been defeated…he knows it…but do we?
With God, maybes become absolutes because He's willing to meet me where I am and raise me higher.
Where do we go from here?
