Sitting by a window on the cruise ship, I watch the waves rolling in and out, really procrastinating on finishing reading the book that has stepped on more than one nerve of mine. I know it was really because it was making me accountable for a few things that I did not want to be accountable for, and I wholeheartedly wanted someone else to blame.
I watched this young lady cleaning a table close by and noticed she was glancing up at me a lot. I met her eyes, and we smiled at each other. Every so often, she would glance and then look down at the table where my belongings were; I had thought, at first, she wanted me to move along so she could clean it. Then, I noticed her longingly glance at my Bible.
I spoke to her, asking her how her day had been. She came closer and said, “Today has not been a good day for me.” Normally, on this ship, if you ask, they say, “Great (or good), and you?” So, this was unexpected, for sure. She went on to tell me she was really missing home, especially her mom. I let her tell me about her mom and her family for a few minutes. Every few seconds, she would look around for other employees or the boss.
The young lady went on to explain that her mom was older and needed more help. She took this position to make some money to help her mom, and this was her first contract. She would not be home for a few more months, and she talked about how she missed everything about her mom.
She asked me what I was reading, and I showed her. “Oh” was her reaction. She looked at the Bible, and at that moment, I realized this was not really a chance encounter. So, I gently asked her if she knew Jesus.
Quickly responding, she said, “Oh yes, my mom made sure of that from a very young age.”. She asked me how I came to know Jesus, and I responded with a very short version. She proceeded after that with how blessed I was to have a Bible of my very own. Her family had the same one for as long as she can remember, and they all shared one. And, yes, of course, I know how blessed I am because I have at least ten in my house and can have access at any time to The Word of GOD. And yet, she does not.
We talked just a few more minutes before I could see what looked like a man in charge coming her way down the hall. I knew my time was limited. I continued talking with her, and at the same time, I was pulling my personal items out of my Bible. I quickly wrote down my name and contact information and stuck it in the Bible.
I stood up, placed my Bible in her bin of cleaning supplies, and told her, “Now, this is yours. You can have The Word of GOD anytime. My contact information and Facebook contact are in there, if you want to reach out.”
With tears in her eyes, she said thank you. At that time, the man in charge was there asking her about something. I looked back and told them to have a great day, whispering in her ear, “God loves you.”
I walked back to my cruise cabin. I could not believe the selfishness and privilege that I have. My prayer is to be mindful of knowing how many others may not have access to HIS WORD.
As a side note, she reached out to me on Facebook, and we are now buddies! We have chatted several times.
Missy Burks
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#missyburksblogs