An Exciting Testimony!

A friend e-mailed me this morning:

There's a guy at work that I may have mentioned before, Andrew, who we've all been getting to know more and more in the last few months. He's one of the guys we've spent time praying for, and he's pretty open to talking. He's the one who felt forced into believing in God, like he had no choice in the matter or something, and eventually chose to reject it. He's termed himself an agnostic ever since I met him. I've had chances to talk with him a few times, share why I believe and such. When one of his family members died, we Christians at work got him a card and took up a collection to help pay for a ticket for him to go home for the funeral. We've invited him to join us on outings and have just done our best to show him love, regardless of what he chooses to believe. Anyway, yesterday he stopped me at work and pulled a cross necklace from underneath his shirt to show me. I asked him if things had changed in regard to his beliefs, and he said yes. Of course, there wasn't time to talk to him then, so I told him I wanted to talk later. When we had a chance to talk I told him I wanted to hear what had changed, and so he told me his testimony. It was so neat to hear...he said that ever since he started getting to know us nurses, he's really been challenged in his beliefs about God. His father had given him a book a while back about God and he had shelved it because he didn't want much to do with that. But the more he got to know us, the more he realized that we honestly cared about him and weren't just trying to win a convert. When his relative died and we got him the card and the money, he said he went for a long walk and it just kind of hit him that that kind of love is proof that God exists. He started reading the book that his dad had given him. I guess one day Ashley, a fellow nurse, told him that she would rather spend the rest of her life without him than spend an eternity without him, and that really hit him hard. He said he always hated it when people preached at him, that it only drove him further away, but that we never did that. We cared about him and were genuinely interested in him, regardless of what he believed. He says he still has a lot to learn, but he's excited about learning and growing. It was so exciting to hear, and it was so cute because he smiled at me and said "and I blame you 5 nurses for causing me to reconsider what I thought I believed," to which I replied "I can handle being blamed for something like that." :)

I was SO excited that we could not only be friends in this life but that we'd be able to be friends for all of eternity. I told him so and that made him smile. We talked about how we all want to make a difference in someone's life, and I shared about how I often wonder if my efforts to show people I care and my bumbling efforts to point them to God ever do any good, and he told me that he was proof that I have made a difference in someone's life for eternity. He was going to wait and tell all of us nurses at one time, but when he showed me the cross necklace he was wearing and I guessed something had changed, he figured he better tell me today since we spent some time together.

I know it's totally God who drew Andrew to himself, and I'm so glad He chose to use me as part of the process. I know I can't take any credit for it, and I'm not trying to, but it feels so good to know that God was able to use me to help change Andrew's heart, along with my nurse friends.

Side note:  My friend and her co-workers meet once a week before work to pray for their un-believing friends at work!  I think this is so awesome!  I'm so excited to see how this has worked out!

Another huge praise!

13 years ago I prayed hardcore for a family member that I really cared about and wanted to see become saved someday.  I don't see this family member often or have much influence with him but as he's crossed my mind, I've prayed for him.  I just met a new friend this week and lo, and behold, she is a good friend of and a strong influence in my family member's life and told me that he gave his heart to the Lord 2 weeks ago!  All those years ago, I prayed for him to meet Christians and come to the faith in spite of the odds against it and it is awesome to see His hand working those prayers out in the here and now!