Talking to God

By Joe Sullivan, MJ • Phoenix, AZ

Have you ever met someone new and, after talking with them for a while, you realize you feel like you have known this person for 20 years? This happened to me recently in my job in medical transport. 

A little while after a middle-aged woman got into my car, and after having exchanged the normal niceties, she began telling me about how she lost weight. I told her how I lost a lot of weight the same way. She complained how bad food is cheap but healthy food can be so expensive. I agreed. We started exchanging diet tips and strategies. Well, that got onto topics like the big food industry, education, government, politics, media, etc. We agreed in our discussions about everything. It was amazing! I felt as if I had known this woman for years. 

Toward the end of our conversation, she asked me, “So, what do you do when you stop working?” Well, you know me – always looking for an open door to evangelize – I replied, “I pray.” This seemed to have stopped her in her tracks as she pulled back her neck and responded with an imposing “OH REALLY?!!” 

Well, from my perspective, she had opened the door, so I had walked through it. Almost immediately after I said that she said, “The Good Lord knows how much I really need to pray more.” I told her what I do – find the same time and the same place and get used to it every day. 

“Well, I do waste a lot of time throughout my day. I think I can do that”, she quipped. “Great!”, I said and added, “But most important of all, talk to God from the heart of a child.” 

Her eyes opened wide and she replied, “Oh! I can do that. At this point in my life, He’s the only one I can depend on.”