Velma

When Velma prays, things happen.

I met her last Tuesday night. She was sitting at the far table near the kitchen, no one else nearby. I sat down in one the the 7 other empty seats, and we talked. It took approximately 5 minutes of talking with Velma for me to realize that the woman I was talking with was insanely brilliant. As in, Shakespearean-scholar-in-college brilliant. As in, she-wrote-a-freakin-book-and-you-can-buy-it-on-Amazon.com brilliant. But most amazingly, she possessed more love and true joy than anyone I've met in a long time, maybe ever in my life. Velma is simply incredible.

So I began to wonder, "Ok, you're articulate, you're smart and capable and full of life and energy and passion and knowledge... so why then are you here?!" I asked Velma if she'd share her story with me of how she got to be at a homeless women's shelter. Her story was heartbreaking to say the least. It was hard to listen to, because I'd never before heard of such terrible circumstances wreak havoc on a more beautiful and amazing woman.

Yet what was most remarkable about her story was that through it all, she continues to carry with her a deep conviction that God is right there with her. That He is in control. That He loves her and He wants to use her exactly where she's at. The peace that she spoke with was a testament to this. The smile that kept reappearing on her face while she told stories about her family falling apart revealed a deep deep love for Jesus - a love that more than compensates for anything she "lacks" by the world's standards.

I'm still unconvinced that Velma isn't in fact a saint, if not an angel.

One of her stories was about the day she moved into the Lydia house. She prayed that God would use her to bring hope and love and joy to the lives of the other women living there. That night, a 20-something girl lay in the bed next to Velma, and screamed for 8 hours straight. So Velma prayed for 8 hours straight. She told me, "I knew the evil one wanted to destroy this beautiful girl's life, so I prayed for her." The next morning, to everyone's surprise, the screaming girl had an entirely different countenance. It was as if she was a different person alltogether. Velma got to talk with her later that day, and led the girl to Christ. That night, the girl kept Velma awake again, only this time because of her snoring from sleeping so deeply.

Velma laughed with tears in her eyes and gave me high fives as she told this part. Her smile was so contagious, my cheeks hurt by the time we were done talking. "Praise Jesus" she kept on repeating.

Praise Jesus indeed.






















(Velma gave me this shirt after we talked. It made my week!)