Will you teach me about Jesus?

God works in so many incredible ways!  I'm thankful for the way He takes a broken person like me and somehow uses my brokenness to show people how incredible He is.  His grace is sufficient for me, for His power is made perfect in my weakness!

A couple of months ago the dad of the family I lived with when I originally moved to Little Rock came up to me at church and told me that he knew a girl who needed a place to stay for the night.  I had never met this girl before, but I told him that if she was cool with sleeping on a couch that I had two that were super comfortable.

Later that night Ariana showed up at my apartment.  Followed by my intern Emily.  First thing she asked when she walked into my apartment was, "do you usually let strangers stay at your place?"  I told her that there are tons of random people that stay at my place, but that she was the first stranger to ever stay with me.  What started as awkward small talk soon turned to more meaningful conversation and a time of prayer before bed.

The next morning I woke up to make Ariana and Emily breakfast.  The two of them had stayed up really late talking about family, God, the Bible, and tons of other stuff.  During breakfast we talked about church and Jesus and she said that she wanted to come on Sunday morning.

Sunday morning rolled around and Ariana was there!  What turned into one Sunday morning quickly turned into another and into weekly Wednesday nights at Coach Cash's house.  She became quick friends with one of my girls who graduated last year in the college class, Chloe Deaton.  If you know Chloe then you know that there isn't a person in this world that could make anyone feel more comfortable and loved!  As the months passed we would get together around once a week to hang out, have dinner, go to a movie, walk the bridge, or just chill at my place.  I am so thankful for the constant opportunities that God gave me to share His story with her.

Last month I got a text from Ariana after church one night that just said, "Will you teach me about Jesus tomorrow?"  All I could say back was, "I would love to!"  Her hunger and desire to grow in her relationship with God has been so incredible to see.  She has been such a blessing to my life.

This past monday I was locked in my office on my knees spending time in prayer and Ariana was really on my heart.  I felt an urging to pray for her.  I prayed that God would continue to grow her faith down deep in Him and that she would continue to grow in her relationship with Him.  When I finished praying I got up and saw that my phone was flashing.  Of course I had just missed a phone call and a text from Ariana, she was checking to see if I was in my office.  About an hour later Ariana shows up at the church building to talk.  I had no clue what she wanted to talk about, but after a few minutes of talking about her family she looks at me and says, "I want to know about baptism."  God, was this not exactly what I had just been praying about?  Man He works in such incredible ways.

We sat in my office for a few hours discussing baptism and the Holy Spirit and Jesus' death on the cross.  She asked questions and we looked for the answers in His Word.  After our discussion she looked at me and said, "I want to be baptized tonight.  I want the gift of the Holy Spirit.  I want God living inside of me!"  WOW Her faith and desire to know God more and more is contagious.

So this past Monday, on Halloween, with just a few friends and her uncle present Ariana was baptized into Jesus Christ.  Praise God!  Only He could have known a few months ago when a girl got kicked out of her home and needed a place to stay that He had so much more in store for her.  He works in amazing ways.  His faithfulness is amazing.

I pray that God will continue to strengthen my sweet sister in Christ who has been through so much.  I trust that He has awesome plans in store for her and that He is going to use her in beautiful ways to impact His kingdom.  He is God!  He is good!