Post by cherylthomson on Jul 23, 2005 18:09:09 GMT -5
A lovely day for a drive today with my puppy "Sweetie", to find and explore new parks and exciting walks. After a long hike along the seashore, my next stop was a boardwalk over a long river estuary. This is a rocky area, and there were dozens of natural wading pools, with all kinds of people, young and old, sitting on stones and letting the rushing water cool them off as they looked off down the beautiful waterway below. I just took a look-see, and as I was heading back to the parking lot, a group of 7 or 8 teenagers passed me on the steps going up. They were all wearing black T-shirts, which were all different designs, but I couldn't make out the messages. A couple had those silver knobs stuck in their ears and noses or wherever. There was one girl, and the rest were boys. Something about the group seemed a little odd, but I didn't give it any thought.
Then, driving down the main thoroughfare of that little suburb, I passed the group walking in my direction down the sidewalk. This time I clearly felt a nudge from the Spirit, so I quickly pulled into a vacant lot, then turned my car back facing the road, with the driver's door facing their direction. I got a handful of tracts ready - "The Bird Cage Story" is a classic and great for teens, since it's about a boy (representing Satan) who is caging and tormenting as many birds as he can capture; then, only a good Samaritan (representing Christ), who offers to buy all the birds from the boy, is able to save them from certain destruction. He tells the boy he is paying the price to let them go free.
My copies of the tract come from The Evangelical Tract Society in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
After making sure I had quick access to the tracts, I got out my road map and as the kids approached, I was sure that I looked as if I was studying the map, rather than studying them!
Then, at the right moment, I got out of the car, carrying the tracts, and surprised them.
"Hi guys," I said. "I've got something for you to read." And I passed out the tracts. Then I asked, "Why are you all wearing black T-shirts? Any reason?"
The girl replied, "Well, we're in a little cult."
"Great," I said. "So am I. But mine will really make you happy."
"I'm happy now," she said.
"Wait and see," I said with a smile. Then got back in my car. The car has a couple of Gospel bumper stickers, front and back, too. I heard the kids making remarks and laughing. When I had been talking to them, I had seen the black fingernails on many of them, and of course I recognized they were trying to be 'cool Satanists'.
But it's a mistake to shrug all this off. A big mistake. This is how the Devil really latches onto some young people, and their lives become a nightmare.
I prayed as I drove away.
I was getting really hungry by this point, and I needed some items - so my next stop was a huge supermarket. I had parked my car way at the back in the shade of the building, for my dog's sake. When I got back with my shopping bags, I immediately started making myself a sandwich and was happily eating it WHEN --
Yes, the same group of kids came around the corner. They immediately recognized me and my car. The girl called out: "666" - and I cheerfully replied - "Now that's a giveaway!"
They proceeded around the other back corner of the building.
I had the feeling they were really surprised to have run into me again like that.
Well, I finished my sandwich and prayed, and then I drove around trying to find them again, as I had a different tract with me, two in fact, which I wanted to give them. These days I sometimes put one tract inside another, to double the impact.
I thought I spotted them on a little wooded promontory out near the water a short drive away. But I couldn't see the walkway they would have taken to get there, as it appeared to be on private property, and the people in the houses had their cars in the driveways. I waited around in the area. No sign of them. I felt I had been mistaken.
But this time was not wasted, as I was continuing to pray for them, and maybe that's what the Lord really wanted me to do at that point.
I am a 54 year-old woman, almost old enough to be a grandmother to these kids. But I always want to be ready, ready with a word, ready with a message. I find that when I make myself consciously available to the Lord this way, EVERY DAY IS AN ADVENTURE. I thank God.
Then, driving down the main thoroughfare of that little suburb, I passed the group walking in my direction down the sidewalk. This time I clearly felt a nudge from the Spirit, so I quickly pulled into a vacant lot, then turned my car back facing the road, with the driver's door facing their direction. I got a handful of tracts ready - "The Bird Cage Story" is a classic and great for teens, since it's about a boy (representing Satan) who is caging and tormenting as many birds as he can capture; then, only a good Samaritan (representing Christ), who offers to buy all the birds from the boy, is able to save them from certain destruction. He tells the boy he is paying the price to let them go free.
My copies of the tract come from The Evangelical Tract Society in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
After making sure I had quick access to the tracts, I got out my road map and as the kids approached, I was sure that I looked as if I was studying the map, rather than studying them!
Then, at the right moment, I got out of the car, carrying the tracts, and surprised them.
"Hi guys," I said. "I've got something for you to read." And I passed out the tracts. Then I asked, "Why are you all wearing black T-shirts? Any reason?"
The girl replied, "Well, we're in a little cult."
"Great," I said. "So am I. But mine will really make you happy."
"I'm happy now," she said.
"Wait and see," I said with a smile. Then got back in my car. The car has a couple of Gospel bumper stickers, front and back, too. I heard the kids making remarks and laughing. When I had been talking to them, I had seen the black fingernails on many of them, and of course I recognized they were trying to be 'cool Satanists'.
But it's a mistake to shrug all this off. A big mistake. This is how the Devil really latches onto some young people, and their lives become a nightmare.
I prayed as I drove away.
I was getting really hungry by this point, and I needed some items - so my next stop was a huge supermarket. I had parked my car way at the back in the shade of the building, for my dog's sake. When I got back with my shopping bags, I immediately started making myself a sandwich and was happily eating it WHEN --
Yes, the same group of kids came around the corner. They immediately recognized me and my car. The girl called out: "666" - and I cheerfully replied - "Now that's a giveaway!"
They proceeded around the other back corner of the building.
I had the feeling they were really surprised to have run into me again like that.
Well, I finished my sandwich and prayed, and then I drove around trying to find them again, as I had a different tract with me, two in fact, which I wanted to give them. These days I sometimes put one tract inside another, to double the impact.
I thought I spotted them on a little wooded promontory out near the water a short drive away. But I couldn't see the walkway they would have taken to get there, as it appeared to be on private property, and the people in the houses had their cars in the driveways. I waited around in the area. No sign of them. I felt I had been mistaken.
But this time was not wasted, as I was continuing to pray for them, and maybe that's what the Lord really wanted me to do at that point.
I am a 54 year-old woman, almost old enough to be a grandmother to these kids. But I always want to be ready, ready with a word, ready with a message. I find that when I make myself consciously available to the Lord this way, EVERY DAY IS AN ADVENTURE. I thank God.