God kicked the door wide open for a conversation about Him on Tuesday morning!
I work 2 days a week as a home health OT, I started back in January. So I have been seeing this family about two days a week since January. The first family on my caseload, sweet family, parents grew up in Vietnam. Dad speaks English and mom only speaks Vietnamese. So I always talk to the dad to coordinate all therapy with his son. Never talked about much of anything else except his son’s medical and education care.
I work with their 5 yo son, we’ll call T, who is smart and has made tons of progress this year. He is obsessed with the solar system. Our ritual is to go over each of the planets throughout each treatment session.
On Tuesday I mentioned a book that I have that has tons of pictures from the Hubble telescope, and it reminded me of T. The dad, we’ll call Mr. N, told me about NASA’s newest telescope just this week, the James Webb telescope taking pictures of galaxies supposed to be from “4.6 billion years ago” according to NASA.
I honestly didn’t have much of a reaction to this, but before I knew it, Mr. N was telling me how he wasn’t sure what he believed. About his childhood and his parents being Catholic and going to mass twice a day, but were they Catholic just because the French colonists told them to be? And how the whole village was judgemental but at least they felt strongly about something, and he was looking into Buddhism but maybe he would have a “coming to Jesus” moment in his life someday.
I didn’t say much throughout this conversation, I threw in some of my own similar experiences growing up as I worked with T and listened.
When he paused, I said a quick prayer , “O Lord, help me, give me what you want me to say.” In my head.
Then I asked him if he ever tried reading the Bible.
He responded with, well, yeah, they taught it in school but it was written so long ago and probably made up.
Then I asked if he wanted to know what I believed.
When I got his go ahead. I told Mr. N that I believe there is a Creator God and that we are His creation. And that he, Mr. N, is a man created in God’s image and God loves him. And that we can trust the Bible and God uses it to speak to us.
I asked Mr N if he would be willing to try something. When he said yes, I told him that when he had a quiet time alone. That he take a Bible and turn to the Gospel of John. That he say a prayer to God, asking God to show him the truth and then start reading. And Mr N said he would. I believe he will.
Pray with me, that he will do it and God will open the eyes of his heart.
2 things surprised me about this interaction.
1. I did not initiate it. I had no intention of having a Jesus conversation that morning with Mr N, I was just there to provide OT for his son.
2. It was “surprisingly easy”! The reason it was easy, I believe, is because the Holy Spirit moved Mr. N’s heart. Not because I am so smart or anything. I have been skeptical about this whole church statement, because I was like, “I gotta figure out a way to work Jesus into the conversations some how?” But that’s not it! Literally, just “be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in your heart.”
I called my husband, Zach, when I left their house and we prayed for the N family. For Mr N and his wife and their two sons (5 yo and a 3 yo). I have a feeling this will not only change Mr. N’s life but his wife and children too and generations to come. Jesus move in his heart!
This is working, keep praying, church!