I had the coolest conversation yesterday ... and I just had to share about it! I was on Facebook chat, and one of my elementary school classmates, who I haven't seen or talked to in about 12 years, randomly struck up a conversation. We did the normal 'how have you been' and 'what are you up to these days', but then the conversation shifted and we were talking about God, faith, finding your path in life, and following your heart. They shared with me how there has been some 180s in their life recently, and how God has brought them back to their spiritual path, not very gently, but beautifully. So now, they're heading out on a trip through the Americas, and hoping to 'find' themselves, and discover their purpose in life. Wow. Cool stuff. The thing that blew me away the most though was how at one point, they said to me 'I know you're a woman of faith, and I know you've always followed your heart'. I haven't seen, let alone talked, with this person in years, and yet they can point to my life as somewhat of an example. Crazy. I guess you never know what sort of impact you can have on people, and what things people notice. Faith lived out through action is so important when you realize that people actually do notice ...

I definitely never expected to be having a conversation like this, with this person - but I'm so glad that I did. It made me realize once again just how present God is in each of our lives. He is constantly pursuing each of us, whether we realize it or not. It also made me realize that I'm sometimes too quick to write someone off, thinking that their heart will never be softened towards Him - but thankfully, no one is ever too far off for God to reach.

And another cool story ... most times, we don't get to see the fruit of our actions, but sometimes we're lucky enough to get a small glimpse. Last weekend, I spent time with a dear friend from Estonia, Asja. Our team spent quite a bit of time with her during our weeks in Estonia, and I had the pleasure of reading with her. We spent some of our times reading from the Luke book, but we also spent a lot of time just talking about life. At one point last weekend, she said to me, "Jill, reading with you was really helpful for me. I really enjoyed it." Hearing that from her made me smile, and reminded me why I'm so glad I made the decision to return to Estonia this summer. It was all worth it - but being able to hear that from one of my readers myself, makes it even more worth it.