My Friend, Mark

I hope and pray you all had a Fabulous Holiday Season! I wanted to share a really awesome testimony with you all. Recently, my family and I were up in Big Bear and I decided to take my dogs to a local dog park that I enjoy visiting. I noticed a man on the other side of the dog park sitting quietly as his 2 dogs began to play with mine, I looked over and waived hello. He seemed like a friendly man, so I walked over and introduced myself, when suddenly my little dog Jax jumped on his lap and began licking his face. My little dog Jax is a Pomeranian Mix, and he loves people and is a very social little dog with a fun energetic personality. The guy and I began to laugh pretty hard at my dog's funny nature.

I decided to sit down by my new friend, and we slowly began conversing about life. My new friend's name was Mark and he began to share a little about his lonely life, (for whatever reason I have that affect on people, they tend to tell me their life's story and I truly enjoy listening to others). I slowly mustered up the courage and I asked my new friend, "Mark, do you know who Jesus is?" Mark looked up at me with his big beautiful blue eyes and replied, "oh Jesus doesn't want anything to do with me, I am the worst as they come, I did drugs my entire life and I have been divorced 3 times and I have 2 kids that want nothing to do with me." I had a feeling he had done drugs in the past; he was missing many teeth and as a past homeless missionary I know the signs of drug use. We ended up speaking for quite a while and you guys all know how direct I can be when it comes to our Lord! LOL! I told him that all those negative thoughts he has about himself are clearly from the Devil/ Enemy. 

I explained to Mark that Jesus adored the ground he walks on and that when Jesus died on the cross, he was thinking of Mark! I told him that Jesus doesn't give a crap about his past; he just wants him to love him and have a relationship with him, we ended up talking for what seemed like an eternity. When we said our goodbyes I could tell that Mark wanted to talk more and I told him that if he wanted to learn more about the Bible I would love to give him Bible studies when we come back to Big Bear. Well guess what happened? Mark texted me a week later and said he was sitting in his local Big Bear California church for service. I broke down in tears when I received his text because I knew without a doubt that God placed me at that dog park for a reason that day. Please look for opportunities to minister to others, God is counting on us to be his hands and feet. He said we must share the gospel wherever we go! I will keep you all posted on Mark, please keep him in your prayers!