4.3 Million People and He Chose Us

Last night we had one of the wildest things ever happen.

In fact, we are still shaking our heads and saying to each other,

“*That* was the crazy.  
Out of 4.3 million people, He chose us. 
What a privilege.”

So the six youngest ones were tucked into bed as we sat down to wait for an
alarm system sales man to come to talk to us about his service.

His appointment was for 9pm, at the end of his very long day.
This young man came with such rave reviews on Yelp that I
was eager to meet him and hear about his business.

A few minutes after 9, he arrived.  He came in and sat down at the kitchen table
and just as quickly as he sat down the front door bell rang again.
I glanced at my cell phone and saw it was 9:09pm.

Hmmm.

That’s weird.

Who would be at our door at 9:09pm?

I looked at Jim the salesman and Dw.  Both looked just as perplexed.
Dw went to the door, opened it and stepped outside.

Jim and I started to talk, but in the back of my mind I was wondering who was outside at this time of night chatting with Dw?  It could only be someone with a problem.

But who?

We hardly know our neighbors, basically are the new kid on the block, so if someone did have a problem, they’d likely go to a more familiar house.

About 5 minutes passed and I said,
“I think I’d better go see who it is with Dw, it’s kind of concerning me.”

Jim actually said, “Yeah, it’s kind of weird” and followed me to the door.

I opened the door and found no one.  Not even Dw.

I called, “Dw?”

No response.

Okay, now I’m starting to get creeped out.

Then I kind of yelled, “DW?  DW!?  Are you there?”

Finally I heard his voice, “Yes, I’m here.  I’ll be there in a minute.”

Standing with the door open wondering what in the world was going on, suddenly
Dw came from behind where the cars were parked in the driveway, slowly walking with
a beautiful and frail little elderly woman.

She looked confused, frightened, maybe even terrified.

My mind was racing.

Where had this sweet little lady come from?

What was wrong?

Understanding what she was saying was difficult between her broken English
and very heavy accent.

Slowly piecing together the bits, we found that this sweet little Japanese lady
was trying to get home but had gotten lost and confused.
She had seen Jim approach our door and decided to follow him.

She stood in our foyer going through her purse for anything that would help us help her.
After she settled a bit, we invited her to come in and sit at the table with us.
Liberty got her some ice water.

Still not having a clue who she was or where she was from,
Graham went to her car and got her registration.

In the meantime we had called the police because maybe they even knew she was missing.

As the story unfolded we found that she had been visiting a friend this afternoon,
 and when she left her friend’s home, had become confused,
turned around and had been wandering the streets in her car for hours and hours.

And now she was an hour from her home!

With her car registration, Graham hopped on his computer and searched and searched and searched until he found one of her son’s home phone number {incredible in this day and age!}.

She was so scared and confused.

Over and over we reassured her that she was safe with us and
we would help her get home.

I showed her our treasures pictures, holding her hand, reassuring her over and over that she was safe and would be soon sleeping in her own bed.

I was able to show her Ruby on the little video monitor sleeping soundly and then took her to our bedroom and showed her our sweet baby girl, Ruby, sleeping in our bed.
She smiled, nodding when she saw Ruby.

We even were able to Skype in Emma and introduce her to K.
We told her about our family and she told us little pieces about hers.

As she settled and realized she was safe, K made us giggle as, over and over,
shaking her head she would say,

“No more drive again.  
He {her son} take keys away.” 

Dw called her son and talked to himwhile a plan was beginning to be made to get her home.  Somewhere in there the police came {which scared the hooey out of K initially}.  Liberty was patting her arm and I was holding her hand, both of us constantly reassuring her she was safe and we would not allow anything bad to happen to her.

We had the joy of having K sit at our table for just about an hour and a half.
Eventually her son was able to come to pick her up.

As the events were drawing to a close, 
Jim, the alarm man {who is also a believer} said, 
“I will never, ever forget this call.
I feel like I have spent an evening in the
presence of God.”  
It’s true friends.  
When we are His hands and feet, 
allowing Him to use us for whatever He wants,
there is tender awe…
Out of 4.3 million people living in the metro Phoenix area,
{seriously, what are the odds, out of zillions of homes}
K would come to our door? 
We will likely shake our heads in 
wonderment for the rest of our lives. 
Such a beautiful privilege from His loving hand.
We thank Him for choosing us.  
*Anytime, anywhere, in any way.  
We’re yours Lord.  
Please use us.*

34 thoughts on “4.3 Million People and He Chose Us

  1. This story really touched me. My Grandmother often wandered away from home. We were always so thankful when people took care of her until we could get to her. You are a blessing my friend.

  2. What a beautiful, wonderful, amazing, precious gift from God both to you and to K from your family. God knew exactly what home to guide her to. Thanking Him for the ministry you offered to K and her family.

  3. I love this!!

    It reminds me of a time when we came home to find a homeless man had somehow managed to get his way into our apartment block and up several flights of stairs and sat outside our door.
    He was pretty out of it with drink/drugs but kept saying 'they' told him to come here and that we would help him.
    We were able to take him for a meal and to tell him about God but it was amazing that he just ended up sitting outside our door! Scared me half to death when we first came upon him though!!!

    So glad that God worked through you to help this sweet lady! x

  4. This is AWESOME!!!! I hate to see when younger generations overlook older generations! It blesses me that she got such tender love, care and compassion from your family. Only orchestrated by God. Bless your family abundantly. Im sure you made her families day if they took time to think of what the other outcomes could have looked like.~ Trina Scoda

  5. Our family is in the middle of a long trial, thankfully we are all fine, just tired. lol This post was so encouraging and brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much for sharing! Just what I needed today. God is just too awesome for words! 🙂

  6. Wow! That is one amazing testimony! Praise be to God! She could have stopped at any other house…but sadly most people don't want to get involved any more and will actually turn others away. God knew you would help her and sent her to you. He orchestrated it beautifully and perfectly, as He does in all things in our lives. Thanks for sharing and encouraging us all today! Blessings!

  7. Okay…now you have me in tears…..blubbering in fact. Precious story…beautiful just like you all. Don't ever forget what Jim said, friend. He speaks truth.

  8. I love that God lead this little confused lady to a safe haven! A place where she would be safe and see Jesus! LOVED that you shared this!

    1. I keep giggling as I think about it. It was so stinkin' fun. She called yesterday to thank us. I asked her to come for tea…have her kids bring her…she said she would call first…I pray she does

  9. Wow, I love this. Wish I could have been there to translate for you (Japan is my second home as an MK), but then again, with God's love there is no language barrier.

    1. Every single bit was His hand and it's the miraculous part that He was working…She lived in one part of the city, had gone a long ways from there and then ended up at our house which was in a completely different direction. So crazy how God orchestrates it all and the turns she made and the miles she went and then, by His divine providence, she ends up at our house. STill shaking my head!

  10. What a precious gift to get to be Jesus' hands and feet to her! Wow. So amazing.

    I remember we completed a long hike to a mountain lake that began and ended on a deserted stretch of remote highway in the mountains of BC. I saw a young man with work boots that had the toes worn off walking down the road. You could tell something was really wrong. My husband wasn't with me yet, so I didn't say anything. But once he came and we got into the van and saw the young man again, we stopped and asked if he needed help. It turns out he was a tow truck driver and had been trying to help someone get their car out of a snow bank, but the tow truck had also gotten stuck in the deep mountain snow. It was miles back to cell phone service and even more miles back to a town. So we took him to his office to get another truck. We even had an extra water bottle and snacks with us. He shared his story, and we discovered that he had been in a youth group with some missionary friends of ours who work with Youth for Christ when he was a teen. He's not yet a believer, but we had the most wonderful time just loving on him and hearing his story.

    God has the most amazing divine apointments ready for us. And it's such a privilege when we take the time to accept those appointments. It's like being Jesus directly to others.

    1. What a blessing you were to that young man and I pray, that by now, he knows Christ and walks with Him and tells the story of once-upon-a-time when I was on a remote highway in the mountains of BC….

  11. As a mom to half a dozen and a couple more, I'm teased about my forgetfulness. I've always told them that they can laugh all they want but someday they will get that call "We found your mom. She was wandering around town naked in red cowboy boots". What a lovely story, and what a blessing you were to both the young and old.

  12. Oh Linny, that is wonderful. As I looked at her picture, I thought of my own Japanese mother-in-love and how if something like that ever happened to her, I hope there is another Linny along the way. Blessings!!!
    Amy in GA

  13. I love that! I've had similar experiences myself and I am always in awe of God's timing and provision. What fun to be part of His activity in this world!

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