Appear Whiter

I was in the middle of prayer and worship this morning enjoying my time with the Lord and I felt the Holy Spirit say "go the laundromat." 
I have learned that nothing is weird with the Lord.

I have been wanting to wash my comforter and it's too big for my washer so being the genius I am, I put the 2 together, laundromat & comforter= God's plan.
I grabbed my soap and bleach and headed to my car. I put "laundromat close to me" into my phone and this one came up.

Sounded like a happy place so I headed that way. 

I awkwardly pulled my comforter out of the front seat of my car and made my way to the door.  I noticed an elderly woman smoking a cigarette by the front door and honestly my first reaction was REALLY why are you smoking at the entrance.

Of course it wasn't this bad but I was being dramatic and when I got over myself I realized the woman got up from her chair. You know why?? Because she saw me trying to keep my rolled up comforter in my arms and off the ground so she held the door open for me!

I knew at that moment she was the woman I was going to chat with. 

After stuffing my comforter in what I thought was still too small a wash machine, I added my soap and bleach and turned to look for the woman. 

I didn't see her so I left for a while as I had a 30 minute wash cycle.

I put a timer on my phone for 30 minutes and went to a near by thrift store. Oddly enough when the timer went off and I arrived back at the laundromat there were still 9 minutes left on the cycle. Hmmmmmm  

As always God's timing is perfect and He must have decided 9 minutes was all He needed because there she was, my lady, sitting by herself against the wall. 

I sat next to her and decided not to speak right away because I learned something from a movie I watched the night before.  In the movie a woman is allowed to meet a group of Indians and she tries to start a conversation. When no one responds her guide tells her that the people don't speak when they first meet someone so they can get a chance to know them before conversation gets in the way. 

I thought that was a profound statement so I decided to try it out. 

I tried to "see" her without it being too weird. I could tell she has lived a hard life by the chiseled lines on her face. Her small amount of laundry implied she was on her own and as she shuffled to the washer I could tell she was in pain. 

When she sat back next to me I asked how her day was going.  She made an uncomfortable face and I asked if she was having a bad day. She went on to tell me she suffers from arthritis and she was in a lot of pain today. She said she thought it was the weather and I shared I battled some headaches and we got to talking about home remedies. 

She mentioned something her mother used to do when she was a little girl. Her facial features changed as she spoke, she suddenly had a lighter, happier expression as she relived the memory of her mother. Gems I felt something in my own heart move as I watched and listened to this sweet woman.

I then asked her if I could pray for her. The first thing she said was "I don't think it will help." I told her we had a pretty big God and nothing was impossible for Him.

She looked at me then turned away quickly, as if she wasn't worthy of the rest of the conversation. Then she said, without looking at me, "well you can if you really want to."

I asked her name and she said Sally.  I said "yes, I would like to."

I began to pray, using her name, I think it's important to say someone's name when you pray for them. We both kept our eyes open and looked at each other the whole time. 

I prayed and reminded Sally that our Father loved her and I asked Him to remove her pain. I could see Sally's eyes begin to fill with tears. 

Gems it always amazes me that people, believers or not, can be so affected by prayer to the Father.  His presence always changes the atmosphere.  

Before I ended I thanked God for sending me to the laundromat as I felt He wanted me to meet Sally. Sally's eyes lit up and mid prayer she smiled and said "Yes I do think you were suppose to meet me!"

We said our goodbyes and I headed home with my wet comforter.  As I laid it out over some chairs to dry I noticed it was 2 tones of white. The machine obviously was too small and I guess bleach hit more places than others. 

My first thought was the comforter was ruined but then it made me think of my day. 

I pray Sally's life was a little brighter after we met and my comforter will remind me, wherever we are touched by the Holy Spirit we will appear whiter.

Psalm 51:7-15 The Message (MSG)

Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
    scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
    set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don’t look too close for blemishes,
    give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
    shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash,
    or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
    put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
    so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
    and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
    I’ll let loose with your praise.