Meet My Buddy: Ringer!

This is my buddy, Kevin. He pops in 2 to 4 times a week on his way to and from school. He’s been coming by for about year now. One day, our doorbell rang. And then, it rang again, and again and again. From that day forward, my husband dubbed him the Ringer.

He wanted to let me know my cat was under my car. He wanted to make sure my kitty was safe. And that’s how we me

Since then, he routinely stops by for water, a snack and some chit chat. It’s kinda funny! I feel like I’m in some sort of a sit-com.

To be honest, I don’t even think he knows my name. To him I’m just the lady who lives where the aqua car is. We will chat on the porch where he tells me about his family, school, sports and oh, yeah, the latest, his
new girlfriend.

But the more I think about this unique encounter the more I wonder what God is up to in this young man’s life. See, we get to talk a lot about Jesus, even if just for 5 minutes at a time. He hasn’t grown up with Jesus and doesn’t know anything about the Scriptures, so I don’t know what all is being absorbed.

But here’s one thing I do know. Someday, Kevin will grow up. He will become a grown man. And I am assuming along the way life will bring many twists and turns, as it usually does. There may be exciting and fun times ahead of him, and of course, there may be pain, struggles and hardships. There’s no telling how the journey of his childhood and youth will influence and shape him as a man. But I have the great opportunity and privilege to be Jesus in skin.

Before Kevin gets to the age when it’s no longer cool to visit the old lady with the cat, I want to put holy fingerprints of Christ all over him. My prayer is that one day, years from now, he will look back and be able to draw truths that were spoken into to him by the nameless woman on Elk Mountain Trail.

We need to cease every opportunity for the lost. Every encounter we have is an opportunity to plant seeds of truth. Seeds of hope. Seeds that spark curiosity to that great question, “Isn’t there more to life than this…?”

Seeds that may lay dormant for years and years, and seeds that may get watered along the way. Seeds that will lead to hope when all is lost. Seeds that one day may take root and grow into a Kingdom changer.

I want my life to have that effect on people. I want those brief encounters to be life-changers for folks. I want to trust that the investments I am making in other people’s lives will have an endless ripple effect whether I see it here, or the other side of heaven.

We are all missionaries. Everyone we encounter is a mission field. Don’t walk by too fast. Everyone is significant and everyone matters. The server, the mailman, the bank teller….. all are in need of Jesus.

You don’t have to go far to encounter a mission field. Just walk out your front door. There’s a lost world waiting for you.