917 Mary And Peter Part One
I could feel the calling to go and do good deeds. So I went to town. Two things caught my attention, the busker drifting reggae over Fargate, and the girl selling the Big Issue at the entrance to Orchard Square. I got £20 from the cash machine, I was going to give £10 to each, and said Hi to the girl. She asked me who I worked for, thinking my jacket logo denoted an employer, and it reminded me of the truth, so I told her I worked for God. And she smiled and started talking. She was a Christian, and began telling me how God has been really helping her today. Even as we chatted 2 more customers came over and bought her magazines. If you’re a Christian you’ll know there’s days where God seems to have you directly in his will and intention and is clearly helping you in the immediacy of your need. It’s like being in a restaurant, at a table, and sometimes the waiter is there in the room, and sometimes he’s there, right at our table, bringing us our daily bread and water of life and providing for us as he said he would. For he does serve us, even as we serve him, and he has the power to bring his people together in synchronistic ways to love and support one another. His Holy Spirit is in us, and is able to co ordinate the most perfect arrangements and meetings.
She told me she had a baby, a boy a few months old, and I could tell she was a single parent. Her own parents were in her home country, I didn’t ask which, and she didn’t offer the information, but she explained it was complicated, everything was complicated. Which is how a well spoken young women just 20 years old was selling the Big Issue in town in order to provide for her baby, who was currently being looked after by her friend, who also had a baby, a girl.
She showed me photos, her phone was full of them as you would expect. She only had one bottle, the one they gave her at hospital, and lacked so many things, everything really. She lives outside of Sheffield, I didn’t ask where exactly. I didn’t want to pry. God knows the heart.
We went to Savers at the bottom of Fargate, and invited her to buy what she needed. She chose nappies, and 3 tubs of milk powder, 2 for her and 1 for her friend, plus a few cleaning supplies. I could tell she was totally unaccustomed to being able to shop freely and buy according to need not inadequate budget.
