Thursday, July 2, 2009

Jacob

My mother and I were cleaning the church center the other day when all of a sudden she said "Mary! Come quickly! There is a man lying outside the door and he's not moving!" We ran over and opened the door and I leaned down and saw that he was breathing so I sent my mother to get my cellphone. Another man came over and gently shook him. He woke up with a start and looked dazed and confused. I told him I was going to call an ambulance but he shook his head no.
I said " Sir, I'm very worried about you and if you don't speak to me I'm going to call them." He looked up at me with bleary eyes and said "Sorry, I just needed a minute to gather my wits." He then stuck out his hand and said "I'm Jacob, like in the bible." I shook it and replied "I'm Mary, like in the bible." Then he told us that he was homeless and had been for 7 years. While my mother went to get him some money for food he continued to tell me a little bit about himself. He said his fiance had died last August, that he missed her very, very much and when he spoke her name it was said so reverently that it deeply touched me. I told him that I would pray for him. He thanked me and said he would always remember me because he had a sister named Mary. My mother gave him some money and we said good-bye. I felt honored to have met him for I saw Jesus in his eyes. So... Jacob, wherever you are, you have a friend and I will not forget you.

By the way, I glanced at Jacob's watch while we were talking and the time was 11:11 [but this is another story in itself].



6 comments:

  1. I was touched by this post. Thank you for sharing it!

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  2. Thank you, Nancy. Underneath all the scruff and dirt Jacob is a beautiful human being and he touched my heart deeply. I'm going to check out your blog right now!

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  3. Yes Marianne, tears are streaming down my cheeks as I write this!

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  4. Mary this post gave me goose bumps as I too see God through each of these beautiful people's eyes and 11:11 is a number I see all the time, it amazes me and often I have tried to figure out why or what it means. I also see 1:11.....always makes me wonder......:-) Hugs

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  5. Bernie,
    Join the crowd! You are among the millions who see 11:11 [1111], 1:11 [111], 333, and many see 911. This happens to me, my mom, my dad, and various other people on a regular basis. I'm glad to finally meet another blogger who sees this. I did a post on this but am thinking of doing another. God bless you!

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  6. I see 3:16 all the time as well as 8:42. Still stumps me unless I read into it that John 3:16 and, 842 is the local code for Bainbridge Island where I grew up.

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