1st wed.

Last night was 1st Wednesday at FRC. I was just remembering my very first experience at 1st Wednesday. I was so guarded when I first moved to Florida. I was extremely shy as a kid, and no matter how hard I try it just takes me a while to warm up to people. Moving here from Texas where I had been building relationships for the past 5 yrs was difficult to say the least. So on first Wed. I was so intimidated to walk into the student building by myself and sit with strangers to eat. That seems so ridiculous now, but at the time it felt like a big deal. So I went in with my 2 kids (cooper wasn't even walking) and I sat at a table in the corner with the least amount of people. People were very friendly. I remember Garland coming over to say hi, and Brian Vasil, and then Matt and Jen. Jen took Cooper so I could eat. But in reality God was setting me up. I was then free to start a conversation with girl next to me Betty. Through the conversation she shared that she was going through a very painful divorce. A beach baptism video was playing on the screen, and God prompted me to ask her if she was going. She ended up telling me that she wanted to get baptised but she felt so inadequate. She was struggling with shame and guilt over a failed marriage and thought she couldn't make a commitment to God until she cleaned herself up. I got to share with her how much God loved her, and how He takes us all just as we are and He does the cleaning up. As we got ready to leave she said that she was amazed that God brought a stranger to sit by her, encourage her and cry with her over a greasy slice of pizza. To this day I still feel blessed for getting to sit by Betty that night at my first 1st Wednesday!