Some people decorate their homes in a Victorian style. Others use a modern style. Still others go for a minimalist look. My wife and I have decorated our home in the style known as Early American Yard Sale. Pretty much every room has some treasure we found at a yard sale (or as they are often called in New England - tag sales), estate sale or church bizarre. Recently we were at an estate sale just two blocks from our home. We had actually been on the way to a different sale when we saw two boys holding handmade signs with arrows. The boys were jumping up and down and clearly excited about the sale they were promoting. It amused us so we decided to alter our plans and go to the estate sale.
When we got there we met Sally.* Sally explained that it was her mother's home, who had recently passed away at 91 years of age. The home has sold quickly and the closing date was only two weeks away. Sally needed to get rid of everything in the house in that two week time frame. As Sally talked, she got very emotional over the recent loss of her mother.
My wife and I could sense Sally's deep pain and our hearts went out to her. I told her that I was a minister and that I would like to give her a hug. She gladly accepted it and while I was hugging her told us that she was a non-practicing member of a non-Christian religion. We talked a bit about it and then she offered to show us some other things in her home that she had for sale. We looked around at various things but I could tell that she was distraught and really wanted to talk more about her mother and spiritual issues that death often makes us think about. Being an avid conversationalist who is comfortable talking about matters of faith, I reopened the conversation with her about her faith.
Suddenly twenty minutes had gone by as we sat on her couch talking about faith and spirituality. The religion Sally followed as a child did not believe in Jesus and she knew little about Him. But she did tell me that her religion had taught her that one day a Messiah would come who would bring hope to the world. I was pleased to tell her that Jesus was that Messiah. Though she was not yet ready to make a leap of faith to embrace that reality, clearly she was enthralled by the whole concept. Pray for Sally to continue her search for the Messiah and for that search to end in a commitment to Jesus.
*To protect my new friend's privacy, I have changed her name. Please join me in praying for Sally and the Father will translate her name into the right one as your prayers reach heaven.
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