To Meet Such A Man

TO MEET SUCH A MAN
Author Unknown

I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were both especially good that day.

As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, "I will work for food." My heart sank.

I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief.
We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response.. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.

Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: "Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square."

Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the store in front of the church, going through his sack.

I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.

"Looking for the pastor?" I asked.

"Not really," he replied, "just resting."

"Have you eaten today?"

"Oh, I ate something early this morning.."

"Would you like to have lunch with me?"

"Do you have some work I could do for you?"

"No work," I replied. "I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch."

"Sure," he replied with a smile.

As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. Where you headed?"

" St. Louis ."

"Where you from?"

"Oh, all over; mostly Florida ."

"How long you been walking?"

"Fourteen years," came the reply.

I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, "Jesus is The Never Ending Story."

Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought.

He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God

"Nothing's been the same since," he said, "I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now."

"Ever think of stopping?" I asked.

"Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me but God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles . That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads."

I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: "What's it like?"

"What?"

"To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?"

"Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me."

My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, "Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in."

I felt as if we were on holy ground. "Could you use another Bible?" I asked.

He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite. "I've read through it 14 times," he said.

"I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see" I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.

"Where are you headed from here?" I asked.
"Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon."

"Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?"

"No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next."

He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.

"Would you sign my autograph book?" he asked. "I like to keep messages from folks I meet."

I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, "I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope."

"Thanks, man," he said. "I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you."

"I know," I said, "I love you, too." "The Lord is good!"

"Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?" I asked.

"A long time," he replied

And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, "See you in the New Jerusalem."

"I'll be there!" was my reply.

He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, "When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"

"You bet," I shouted back, "God bless."

"God bless." And that was the last I saw of him.

Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them.

Then I remembered his words: "If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"


Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. "See you in the New Jerusalem," he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will...

"I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again."

My instructions were to send this to four people that I wanted God to bless and I picked you. Please pass this to four people you want to be blessed.

This prayer is powerful and there is nothing attached. Please do not break this pattern. Prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue to pray for one another. God bless and have a nice day!

"Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and e-mail buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace, In Jesus' precious Name Amen."

I sent this to more than four, but this story is so touching I felt each of you would enjoy it greatly.



GOD BLESS YOU MY FRIENDS AND MY FAMILY!!

In Tallahassee there are several different weight loss solutions. Over the years I've probably tried most of them. Most didn't work for me.

The one that has worked for me has been Winners WeightLoss. To date I've lost about 75 pounds and I'm still losing. This is just a good common sense approach without the puffed up sans the gimmicks!

I've never done the diet patch , but would love to hear if any of you have had any success with it.

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Thoughtful understanding - Epazz works with you from start to finish.

"Going wireless isn't a big deal."

"Really? It all just seems quite confusing to me. I don't even know where to begin."

"Most new things are like that. You just need to be willing to dive right on in to learning about it.
Take the wireless router.

As a paid blogger I get all sorts of interesting assignments. Usually the moment I spot the subject, my imagination is off and running with a creative thought. Some of my creative musings require reining in though. Such was the case when I spotted this assignment for Bush furniture. The vision in my mind needed a heavy dose of editing. I needed to focus more on the furniture and less on the name. This was no place for a liberal charged soliloquy.

I'm sure the furniture would be well worth investigating if you are in the market for some new pieces for your home.

What could be more fun than a family golfing vacation? Florida is the perfect destination for a Golf Holiday!

For all the latest in clubs and equipment, make sure and surf over to the Titleist golf website. Meet you on the greens!

"Kathi, why don't you just get a Dell?"

"I suppose I could." I said to my friend who is a computer techy person.

"'Makes sense to me that for the kind of work that you do that you should have a top of the line computer."

"I'll check Dell Computers and Dell Memory out and start saving my pennies!"

There is little else that I find more frustrating than dealing with computer tech issues. When the operating system slows to a snail's pace, the frustration mounts!

Of course when you add a new operating system to your computer and don't know 100% what you are getting into in the first place ... be prepared for the worst.

My advice is ... get professional help!! It took days to straighten out the mess and the computer is still not working acceptable. The best remedy would be to invest in a new computer.

How will I ever be able to get my audiobooks projects off the ground working with this slow machine?

At every twist and turn I encounter obstacles, yet I press on, realizing that when we are on mission with God the obstacles often increase to try to discourage us.

But by the Grace of God, the Agape Cove Living Series will one day be available in bookstores around the world.

Shopping for business cards? Wanting to start a new business? Don't rush into ordering them until you make sure that your idea is really feasible.

Yesterday, I sat down with the man from the Small Business Administration and discussed the preliminary steps to starting a business in the correct way.

He shared the first four steps that he felt were essential before writing up your business plan.

1. Define Your Idea

2. Define Your Target Market

3. Define The Barriers

a.) Financing

b.) Regulatory

4. Define Your Actions

This should equate to about a 4 to 5 page document.

Big Thinking Is A Blessing

Every once in a while, an e-mail comes across my desktop that I feel is worth sharing. I have no idea who wrote this, but I thought it was very good. So instead of deleting it, I've decided to share it on the Agape Cove Living Blog. Here's to BIG THINKING and to the extraordinary blessings that become a byproduct of them.

Have you wondered exactly how high your hopes and dreams are? In many cases the average person tends to sell themselves short on their dreams. They do not shoot high enough to allow smaller dreams and goals to carry them to a higher level. Some may think that lots of words and phrases are a sign of a big thinker. One thing to remember is that the size of your vocabulary is not as important as what effect those words have on yours or someone else’s thinking. There are several characteristics of big thinkers. These are three characteristics to keep in mind and get you started in expanding your thinking.

Big Thinkers create positive pictures in their minds and the minds of others. Words create mind pictures. Big, positive and cheerful words will paint an amazingly bright and positive for anyone to include yourself. Use bright and cheerful complimenting words to describe other people.

Big Thinkers make a habit of see things as they can be and not as they are. This kind of thinking adds value. Don’t get in the habit of being stuck in the present. If you will see the best then it will be the best. Use positive word to outline plans and build castles instead of trenches.

Big Thinkers do not let what they may not have be an obstacle. If you see yourself as a nobody, that is what you will stay. Seeing yourself as a somebody will add to you, value and soon you will feel bigger as well as think bigger.Make it a habit to add value to everything you think and say. Always use personal compliments when addressing others. Praise is always a successful tool when adding value to another person. A big thinker will consider themselves as the member of a team reaching for a common goal. When you keep these things in mind then you are on your way to expanding the height and size of your thinking.