25. June 2010 by Starr.

One very hot day a couple of weeks ago, we were driving through town and suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man walking down the street. I just caught a fleeting glimpse. I kept driving.

I drove onward, but God stirred my heart. I could feel God saying in my spirit, “Go back and get him.” I felt an urgency right then.

I immediately turned into a parking lot. Those who were in the vehicle with me, said, “Where are we going? Why are you turning around?”

I simply answered,”I have to go get someone on that street.”

They asked,”Who?”

“I’m not sure,” was my answer.

I turned around and drove down the street until I found the man who was indeed, still walking down the road. He was walking with a purpose toward a specific house and carrying a plastic bag. I pulled up beside him, not quite sure what I was suppossed to say, but I was trusting God with this one.

“Hi, do you need a ride or something?” I said this, knowing full well that he could be an unsafe person, but, as I said, I was trusting that God would not lead me somewhere that His will would not protect me.

The man looked at me and said, “No, I’m going here to my cousin’s house. I just walked to the store. I’m just kind of down, I’ve been looking for a job.” He then started telling me about his job problem and his day. He just needed to talk about the fact that he was having a really bad day.  In his bag was a Gatorade and an Oatmeal Creme Pie. I couldn’t help but to grin at that, for this guy was a very large fellow, indeed. As my Aunt Joanna would say, “Ewes not fat, ewes fluffy.”

Anyway….it just so happened that at that very moment, someone was at my home doing some job training with some independent business owners with an in home business that I am a large part of. So, I asked “Ben,” I know of a great idea for you, if you’ve ever considered owning your own business. He said that he had, many times. Before I knew it, he hopped in the vehicle, and was riding home with me.

Since then, Ben has become a good friend of the family. He is as much a part of our lives as we are of his. He mentioned to us that he used to go to church when he was growing up, but walked away from God, somewhat. He has the best light in his eyes. He kind of reminds me of Santa…with a twinkle in his eye, kind of thing, going on about him, if you know what I mean. Ben is street-wise and smart, and has a heart of gold.

So, “Ben” now has a job, and is moving forward with his life and now doesn’t feel so downtrodden. He has made many changes in his life in just the last few weeks. He has big plans to make many more. He has plans to start going back to church and has a hope for his future. He has hope, now, and faith. That’s what makes all the difference.

“Ben”…AKA Buford T. Justice, Go with God and build that thing! Never stop. You are loved.     CSY

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25. June 2010 by Starr.

 Since the beginning of the Nightbell project, a specific woman I will call, “Anna,” kept coming into my mind. I began to pray for her more deligently than I had before. I looked back over my prayer journal and noticed that I had prayed for Anna now and then, but not on a regular basis. I made her a part of my regular prayers. I prayed for her salvation and I prayed for her deliverance. I wasn’t sure what I felt she needed deliverance from, however.

Anna lived in another part of the country and I didn’t see her, at all, however, she kept coming into my mind. I was aware of Anna’s predicament through a friend. Anna had financial burdens and emotional burdens and was having problems keeping her head above water. She often times didn’t have enough money to make it through the month, and it was a regular cycle in her home to have electricity shut-off notices and to run out of food before the food stamp card was recharged and etc.

I received a call from Anna. I honestly do not remember the entire phone conversation, to tell you the truth of it. But she asked me for money to pay her electric bill and she was asking for twenty dollars for food. I explained to her that even if I sent it, it would take two or three days to get to her, at least. To make a long story, short. I invited her to ride a train and come visit me. She did so.

Once she got to my home, I wasn’t sure where to start. She wasn’t sure where to start, so we just started from the beginning with normal life. The first time she had dinner with my family, she seemed a bit confused. After the dinner, she said to me, that she was shocked at the prayer that we said before the mealtime. She told me that she had never prayed before and that she had not grown up in a home where they had even eaten a meal around a table together. They had always taken their food into the living room and watch t.v. while they ate. She said to me, “That is the first time I have prayed. I’m not sure who you prayed to.”

I explained to her who we prayed to and what prayer was and walked her through the truth of Jesus Christ and who He is and the power of God’s love. Over the few short weeks that she visited with me, I learned about her mental illnesses and how they affected her life and the roots of her pain. But, I still didn’t know how to help Anna.

I will be honest, that I was worried and wondering how to help her. I knew God had placed Anna in my life for a reason. But, in truth, there were many frustrationss. Trying to help someone with mental illnesses is difficult at times. Sometimes it is a new world every day. I kept praying for God to show me the direction that I needed to use to guide her to Him. I knew that Isaiah 58:11 tells us that God will guide us continually.  I kept reminding myself of that.

When things got their darkest, Anna decided to give her heart to Jesus and she got saved in my den. When she said the sinner’s prayer, I could feel the change in her, as her entire body relaxed. She talked openly to God and surrendered her life and spirit to God with full commitment. She understood completely and was ready for a new life.

A few days later, I had an “aha” moment. I realized that many of her issues with daily life were that she just “couldn’t” do many things she was trying to accomplish in the world. Through a series of phone calls and events and a very large door that God opened up just for her, Anna will be going into a residential living center on the 30th of June that she is very excited about and that will be perfect for her needs. As a matter of fact, this center had one opening that opened up fifteen minutes before I called them.

God is a great God. He was waiting for Anna. He had a plan for her life. He had a place for her. She just needed to make the decision to get there.

Please be praying for Anna as she walks down her path as a new Christian in her new home.

I will keep you posted, of course, on how things go with Anna. If any of you feel led to help Anna, she desperately needs a Bible, clothing items and cards or letters of encouragement. Please email me or my website staff for her size information and we will make sure it gets to her.

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25. June 2010 by Starr.

It’s funny how God works, isn’t it? As I have been praying about “Those of the Night Bell” and how God wanted me to live and move and serve and help them…I was thinking that I would first recognize them clearly as night bell people and then after recognizing them clearly as such, I would take action as I felt led by  God to do.

Well, God surprised me in this and taught me an important lesson. The lesson is, that sometimes those who most need our help, are those who are most unexpected and who, we might be tempted by the enemy to see as a “problem.”

In truth, people are not our problem, but our purpose. Those of the Nightbell, can be those who are suffering darkness on the inside, not just those who suffer an outward physical predicament.

 At first I thought I would just find them stranded at night.  I envisioned them homeless, or poor, or lost. Being lost has many different implications. There are many different ways of being homeless.  There are many different variations of being poor, as well.

God bless those of the Nightbell.  God is with you wherever you are.

As I blog about my progress that I experience with God’s guidance, I will be changing the names of those I encounter, to protect their privacy. 

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13. April 2010 by Starr.

I will own that this apparition on my doorstep in the cold morning light (he had rung the night-bell) surprised me somewhat. —Two Sides of the Face Midwinter Tales

Not far from here, on a lazy little curve on a busy street, resides a motel that has a reputation that definitely preceeds it’s name.  I won’t mention it’s official name here, in fact…the name of the hotel is really not my point of progress, but in actuality, I’m more concerned about those who reside within that pocket of the planet, than the title of the place they are in.  They, after all, have a story to tell.

My first experience at this location led me to an interesting woman who I can’t seem to get out of my mind.  It’s funny how life sometimes puts us in odd little places, isn’t it?  But, I digress.

I was at this location…with a beautiful spring day all around me, but all I could think about really, was the scent of cat hair and cheap disinfectants and cigarette smoke that kept wafting out of motel room 13.  As I walked past, I caught a glimpse of very dirty dark green carpet and suddenly felt sick.  I turned to walk back toward my vehicle.  That’s when I saw her.

She shuffled across the parking lot wearing a black fanny pack on her front left hip, light blue polyester pants, torn up leather black shoes, I don’t recall the color of her blouse, but I do remember her hair.  She had thick, yellowish blonde hair that went past her shoulders.  As hard as the wind was blowing- her hair didn’t.  She wore glasses and talked to herself.  Loudly.  She had things to say.

She told me a little about her life at the motel.  She told me about how she trades her cleaning services for a room there and how she pays for the cleaning supplies herself, and the manager (who, in her words, is a “funny duck”) doesn’t pay her back for the bleach and the items she buys, which isn’t much.  She complained about how filthy the motel was and how it wasn’t passing inspection.  She told me about how alot of the people who stayed there weren’t clean and how she was responsible for cleaning up after them but had no tools to do what she was asked to do, and had no time to do it in.

As she talked, she never looked me in the eye, and continued to look away.  I told her my name, and the name of my two friends with me.  She never told me her name.  I sensed she either didn’t like her name, or she was in hiding.  She pulled out another cigarette at that point and said, “I need to check the laundry.”  Inside the office she shuffled.

I remember thinking that it was impossible to guess her age.  Somewhere between 40 and ?  50 and ?  60?  Higher? She returned a short time later with a small load of towels.  I had the feeling she had been at this little motel for quite a long time, trading time, trading dirt, trading laundry, transferring items from washer to dryer…from room to room….shuffling across that little parking lot back and forth, then sitting on her folding chair that sits right beneath the small black sign that reads, “Night Bell.”

I wonder who she is.  I wonder if she has family.  I wonder if she knows that God has a plan for her life.  I wonder what her name is.  I wonder if she would come to dinner with me if I asked her.  I wonder when the last time she had a really great long bubble bath.  I wonder when the last time she laughed was, or bought a new pair of shoes was, or just did something fun?  I wonder when the last time was that she got out from under that little chair beneath that Night Bell?

Please pray for this place, not so far from me and for this lovely woman who is God’s child.  I’m going to do something for her this week.  I’m not sure what, yet, but I’m going to ask God about it and see what He leads me to do.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  I’ve decided to keep a running blog about her and anything else that goes on around that interesting field of characters.  Besides this situation with her and it, I’m going to use this location in fiction.  I’ll keep you posted.

As we walk through life on this planet, we bump into all kinds of people.  My pastor Steve Patterson says, “Just love them.”  He’s right.

What I’m going to say in this matter is, as we see people that may seem lost or off their path….they probably are exactly that, and my input here is simply put: “There but by the grace of God go I.”

Remember, we are human “beings” not human “doings.”  God is most concerned about our character, because that is what we will carry into eternity.   The Bible warns, “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.  Instead, fix your attention on God.  You’ll be changed from the inside out.  Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well -formed maturity in you.”  (Romans 12:2 Msg.)

We are not just what we do.  We are all a work in progress.  We all are what we are in our BEINGS.  What would you have me do for you, if you were her?

In a way, we are all a part of Those of the Night Bell.

CSY

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