The Not Entirely Bad Day

It wasn't a very good day.

All the staff were away except myself and Helen, and we both were starting late. All the children were unsettled. I was impatient with just about everyone. I felt like running about crying - "Don't be calm, this is not a calm day!" I was harsher than I needed to be. I focussed more on getting the day-to-day necessities done rather than on being there for the children, which really should always be my first priority.

And finally, I got to go home.

I was looking forwards to getting on that bus and sinking into the book I was reading. And then the bus driver wanted to talk. (All the bus drivers want to talk to me - I'm approachable looking, and I'm there on a regular basis.)

"You're always reading. What are you reading today?"

I showed him. From memory it was The Great Christian Revolution.

"Wow. You always read such interesting books." (He wasn't being sarcastic.) "I remember when you were reading this really interesting looking book, it was about the Jews and why they are not Christian..."

"Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus?" I asked.

"That'd be the one," he said.

He then started asking my opinions on reasons for Anti-Semitism, the reasons why Jews don't believe in Jesus, whether or not there will be a second coming of Christ, whether that coming has already happened, and we even got up to reasons why Mohammed is not the Messiah when it was my bus stop and I needed to get off.

No, he did not become a Christian because of my encounter with him. But a seed was laid.

And it taught me a few different things:

1. Even when I am a screw-up, God can still use me. Yes, I know that in theory, we're all screw-ups. But really, I'm pretty messed in the head. But even so, GOD CAN USE ME. As the saying goes, if He can use Balaam's donkey, He can use me.

2. Keep signs of the fact that you are a Christian about. It's amazing how often these provoke conversation. Bus drivers quiz me on my books on a semi-regular basis, and it's a great opportunity to witness to them - and they're even asking for it! The children I work with have always been more interested in my prayer slide and the cross I wear than a lot of other things - and it is an opportunity to share with them in an informal manner about God.

3. People remember. I read that book several MONTHS before. That bus driver is a regular reliever on my shift, so he's not there all the time. But he remembered, and God used it so that I could talk to him about the things of God.


So pray for me, and pray for yourself, and pray for all the bus drivers of Australia, that there would be lots of witnessing opportunities every day.