carlos

today i met an hispanic man named carlos in santa ana.
at first, i didn't notice him- while i was talking
to someone named xavier (cool name) about reading the Bible.
i suppose it was him who initiated the conversation
when he translated in spanish the words,
"do you read the Bible often?" to xavier.
i noticed, as i went on talking to the homeless
that what wayne said was right- most of them were Christian,
but hardly do they share, in depth, about their faith.
however, carlos was different from the very start...
he shared his testimony without me asking
and by that testimony i have been blessed and encouraged.
being fired from his job, not because of incompetence,
but because of injuries which led to accidents,
being attacked by others simply because he was alone
and had a bike with him, being chased down and shot
by people who claimed that he owed them money,
while he did not have even enough to feed himself,
being told by a doctor that there was no hope for him
to ever walk again because the bullet hit a spinal nerve-
after all of this, he still believed that God had a plan.
"i lost everything, but i did not lose my faith-
and that is enough." words that i think are beautiful.
when carlos was hospitalized, his doctor told him
that there was absolutely no chance for him to heal.
and yet, carlos took the words of God over the words of man.
little by little, he tried to walk and although he fell,
he got up as many times as he could.
little by little, God's grace and power was shown to him
as he took, literally, steps of faith.
now, he walks as if he had never been paralyzed.
praise God!