Two Hours At The Tail End
She was tired.
Mama of four, home educator, wife, oh yeah and Missionary.
No biggie. She’s got this.
I was there to visit her in the wide open spaces of Wyoming where dust is the only thing disrupting the endless view of prairie colliding only with the majestic mountains.
All under the big blue Wyoming sky.
Yeah that one. Unforgettable.
My trip to the wild, Wild West was twofold. I was invited to speak at a women’s retreat in the mountains (I know, tough life huh?) and it just so happened to be right next door to where two of our CCWM Ministry Leaders, Ray and Shanna Choate had been called to serve. If you don’t know their cupcake story, I dare you to read it. It’s a good one and tells the story of how they landed Wyoming as their mission field.
I had planned on following Ray and Shanna around for a bit, as their mission sending organization to get a better understanding of how their ministry had developed over the past three years.
“For [Shanna] is God’s masterpiece. He has created [Shanna} anew in Christ Jesus, so [Shanna] can do the good things he planned for [her} long ago.”
However, at the end of the retreat I was chasing time and ended up with but a half day to give to what I considered the more important work, serving the missionaries.
Shanna drove me out of the prairie and into the ‘city’ of Riverton. We planned to grab some coffee and catch up over conversation.
“Where are you Shanna?””
I asked, sitting across from one another in the Riverton coffee shop. Eye to eye. I saw a sorting through the years taking place in her as she pondered the question. I wasn’t asking her physical location but rather her heart and soul location.
“I’m finding clarity, at last.”
She said with a slight smile. “I’ve been wondering what we’re doing here for real, for sure…we’ve tried so many different things, different good things, but not always feeling like THE thing.”
I listened, remembering what it was like to be new on the mission field. Trying to figure out why God had done such a thing to me, to my family. Dipping a toe into different possibilities of ministry, some too hot, some too cold….working through the awkward, new, and sometimes even hostile environment. Surviving.
Here she was, quite the survivor, not yet a Wyoming Cowgirl, but certainly well on her way to acclimating. I’d met some of her friends at the retreat. Shanna was liked by many.
She broke from our conversation and took a look at her buzzing phone. Within seconds she gasped and I saw tears forming in her eyes.
“Oh thank God! She’s going into treatment!”
Shanna spoke with excitement.
I quickly gathered that “she” was a woman Shanna had been praying for. An addict who wanted to be clean, one of the homeless in the city of Riverton. A woman most would not want to talk to, but Shanna calls, friend.
“I know you have to go soon…but can I take you to meet them?”
Shanna was referring to the homeless she has grown close to over the last two years. She was already drinking up her last swigs of coffee, I could sense her joy.
JOY.
The tired eyes came alive, bright.
I recognized it right away. This is where she was thriving. This was the good work He had prepared for her long ago, it was obvious.
We hopped in her truck and before I could stop to consider what I was getting myself into, I followed the missionary into her dark places, the dark places that call her loud, call her strong, cause her to be brave and to be prayerful. Shanna took me with her as she searched for her friends, driving through the streets, and back alleys with her eyes fixed on the things God had set before her.
“What do you say to those who might think this is a hopeless endeavor? ”
I asked as she drove. “I mean these are the homeless, addicts who have destroyed their life and the life of their family most likely…”
Shanna took a gentle breath in, a small sigh. “Yes…it’s true. All of that is true, and I would have little argument against that one except I’ve seen God speak to them right in the middle of their addiction”. She started naming names…”I’ve seen Maggie receive Christ and stop drinking for almost 7 months. I’ve seen Ben go home to his family and make it right. I’ve seen too much to consider it hopeless.”
We drove up next to a group of what looked like the kind of guys I’d avoid eye contact with. They were passing a bottle.
There they are! Shanna said with relief.
It struck me that she was looking for what I avoid.
I followed her to the group and they welcomed Shanna like a long lost friend. She engaged with deep love, Godly love, the kind the Father equips us with when we let Him.
Down on the ground next to them she laughed, checked up on various situations going on. Someone had a wound that was healing quickly, Shanna celebrated with a hug. Another young man asked her, “Will you please pray for me?” and she did.
I awkwardly inserted myself into her world, their world, the world that God had created between the group of them and a missionary. Only God.
When Shanna found the young woman who had vowed to go into treatment the two of them talked about the next steps, leading up to her recovery entry date. The woman asked for some clean underwear, a pair of pants. Shanna happily agreed to deliver it later in the week.
“You guys hungry?” she asked and they all nodded.
“Okay we’ll be back with some sandwiches!’”
And she turned back toward the truck…with me in tow.
I was so proud of her, proud of God, impressed by where God will take a woman, half laughing at who God will make her into. Someone that looks so little like herself.
After hurriedly shopping Shanna made the sandwiches from the back seat of her car. Like a professional, she put together little bags of lunch for everyone.
And I marveled.
“You need a food truck…” I said as I watched her slap mayonnaise on the pieces of bread.
She laughed…”yes that brings me back to the thing we were discussing in the coffee shop! The clarity I have now…it’s this. This is where we want to go all in. These are our people. I want to fundraise for a food tuck a mobile soup kitchen where we bring food to the people who almost everyone (and most for good reason) have given up on….BUT GOD.”
I watched Shanna take her freshly made sandwiches to the people she was referring to, the ones who almost everyone had given up on. I watched a man receive his lunch and speak to her about what he was going through…”I’m gonna quit drinking soon.”
I thought about his family. He likely had a wife, a daughter, a tired long and broken road lead him here. He wanted off the road, off the bottle….I believed him. Perhaps those who had to draw the hard boundary lines with him in order to protect themselves, are praying today for someone to take the torch, for someone to show the kindness, for a miracle to occur.
And here, for two hours at the tail end of my Wyoming travels, I got to see the answer to those prayers.
Shanna. Mama of four, home educator, wife, oh yeah and Missionary.
No biggie. God’s got this.
QUESTIONS TO DEEPEN THE CONVERSATION:
What good works has God called you to?
Do you have clarity about your purpose today, or are you still testing the waters?
Where are you?
