Random Public Transportation Encounters

I will be completely honest. I don't like talking to random foreigners. In fact, I usually find myself avoiding them on the subway and/or bus. However, over the past couple of weeks, I've had two very interesting encounters.

Bus
On the way to school one morning, I noticed an American girl (Steph) sitting on the bus. I felt compelled to say hello and we started a little conversation. We saw each other a couple of other times on the bus randomly and then I bumped into her and her husband at Home Plus (our neighborhood grocery store). We ended up being at the same school district meeting a couple of weeks ago as well. Since that time, we realized that we are neighbors - just one building away from each other. I've been getting to know Steph and Jon a little bit better as time goes by. I found out that they are Christians and have been looking for a church to join. Yesterday, they came to church with me and had a great time, I think. I'm thankful for this new friendship and looking forward to how the Lord continues to grow and stretch me through these random connections!

Subway
Last Sunday, I was on the subway on my way to church. I was so engrossed in my reading of The Little Woman (a biography about Gladys Aylward, missionary to China from 1932-1950s) that I hardly noticed the blonde girl that sat next to me. I'm not sure how long she was sitting there until I noticed her, but as soon as I did, I felt like God wanted me to start up a conversation with her. It was the last thing that I wanted to do. I was really enjoying my reading and was almost finished with the book. But, I had just been reading about how Gladys Aylward was so sensitive and obedient to God's voice. So, I begrudgingly decided to be obedient and God provided a way for the conversation to begin. As I chatted with Karen, an Irish lassie, I found out that she's been wanting to join a church for quite some time now. (You can imagine how surprised I was)! We chatted for quite awhile and decided to meet up the following week to go to church together. We exchanged contact info before parting ways.

Yesterday, Karen also came to church and brought one of her friends (who has also been praying about joining a church recently) with her! We had such a wonderful time together and I could tell that Karen and Laura were excited to be there.

God is clearly at work. I'm thankful for what He's doing and the new friends that He is unexpectly bringing into my life - through public transportation, of all things!