The Wedding Thief

"Has anyone seen my purse?"

I felt like I asked that question a thousand times - each time I felt a little more panicked than the last time I had asked. In my purse were my wallet with all my credit cards, my Treo with all my contacts, and my camera. No one had seen it but everyone was sure it would turn up in the morning.

After a very full summer, I went to Northern Alabama this past weekend to celebrate the wedding of some good friends from New Orleans - Doug and Toy. It was amazing to celebrate their lives and love that night. Out of about 700 people there were probably about 70 of us from New Orleans, but you could tell that we brought the spirit of New Orleans with us - we were the first ones on the dance floor and the last ones to leave! Doug and Toy's wedding was such a beautiful picture of love and celebration but it ended with my purse being stolen. By 11:00 am the next day we had confirmed that almost $1000 had been purchased on my credit cards.

Honestly, it felt like a kick in the gut after such a long and challenging summer. We got home around 8:00pm Sunday night and I knew that I needed to be on campus first thing Monday morning to kick off the semester and tell students about having a relationship with God. How on earth was I going to do that? God met me in such a tangible way on Monday morning.

It was one of those mornings that I could barely open up the Word so I read a devotional book. Through a series of passages I ended up in Hosea 6:1-3

Come let us return to the Lord
He has torn us to pieces
Now He will heal us
He has injured us
Now He will bandage our wounds
In just a short time He will restore us,
So that we may live in His presence
Oh, that we might know the Lord!
Let us press on to know Him
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of the dawn
or the coming of rains in early spring.


All of the verses that I had read up until this point also held the theme of brokenness and healing. I couldn't help but think of the brokenness that had touched my world over the weekend - the effects of sin that led some one to the place where they steal in the midst of a great celebration. Reading that passage made me realize how broken I have been in life - how much I need the healing hand of the Lord - and how much He longs to meet me.....that His healing is active, it is sure, it seeks me out!

As I drove to Delgado Community College, I noticed that a lot of work had been done on familiar streets. Three months earlier on the same drive I saw many abandoned homes with their overgrown lawns and leftover paint marks from the days after the hurricane...now those streets seemed neat and clean again. Delgado was teaming with students - there seemed to be more life than I'd ever experienced in the campus. At the same time, I think the events of the weekend and my time meditating on healing gave me a new perspective on what I was doing. Our mission isn't about launching movements - it's about getting to those students that are hurting - that are at the place where they feel "torn to pieces" with no hope for healing". Two students came by our table who really touched my heart. One guy's name was Steven and he stopped by when he saw we were a Christian organization. He was just back from Iraq where he had watched his whole unit die and then was shot in the back by a 9 year old kid. The pain was all over his face. Later, Jon stopped by. Jon was diagnosed with cancer earlier this summer. When that happened, he started to wonder about eternity. He wanted a safe place to explore...he's been getting sermons from Youtube.

Usually when I go on campus, I'm looking for leaders....but that day God opened my eyes to the broken.....and reminded me that we are broken - that we all need His healing. When Steven and Jon came by our table, I knew that God longed to heal them just as He has healed me in so many ways. It was a great way to start the semester!