A relationship miracle!

The story of this young man (Tim) still has my brain on tilt. I remember the first time I met him at age twelve. He told me that his mother died when he was younger. When I heard those words, my heart broke. I could relate to him because my Mom died when I was seven. I grabbed him in my arms and prayed for him, giving him a Bible the following week.

Now Tim is nineteen. But, from age twelve to a few weeks ago, my relationship with Tim has been VERY rough. I don't know what happened in those years, but these are the things we experienced from him.... mocking, theft, disrespect, anger and being cursed at. When I lived in John DeShields, he lived nearby me. We had many confrontations and I admit, it began to wear on me. I ended up releasing him to God and prayed that things would eventually change.   

Two weeks ago, he came to the Wednesday Lunch Outreach. The fact that he showed up left me with my jaw dropped. Then he returned the following week. He got there an hour before we served lunch and talked about personal topics the whole time, opening up like never before. When talking to Janell (Dream Center support staff) he said, "I knew it was going to be a good day because I found a $20 bill on the ground; then I knew for sure it was gonna be a good day because I came here (to lunch) and saw Rachel’s smile." When Janell shared this with me, I laughed and told her, "He's probably so used to seeing me angry, frustrated and reprimanding him that when he sees me smiling at him, it's a relief." Only God can do a relationship miracle like this!