Encounter of Affirmation

September 15 by Marthann Witzig
Today, I happened to be sitting on the wall outside the courthouse in Smithfield. It was a beautiful fall day--warm, balmy and bright. I noticed a lady of about my own age walking slowly towards me. She started to sit down on the wall, and I invited her to move closer to me in order to be in the shade. This meant that the usual "bubble of social space" we all try to maintain would be broken. She gratefully nodded and sat down close to me.

I commented on the beauty of the day, and she agreed, but I could sense a "heaviness" about her. She told me her story as I sat and listened. She had received a telephone call at work during the night telling her one of her sons had been arrested and was in the Smithfield jail. The long-story-short of it is that her oldest son had the unfortunate luck to be with one of his brothers when the brother "kicked in the door of his girlfriend's apartment" last night. (Dianne's "bad choices, bad life--good choices, good life" was ringing in my ears as she told me her son's sad story.)

I asked her name, and she told me it was "Carolyn" (our own daughter's name, for those of you who don't know our daughter). I asked her son's name, which she told me was "Will". Carolyn was very worried about Will because he is mentally impaired and doesn't always understand what is happening to him. She started to tell me how worried she was about how he'd do in jail around other more "experienced" prisoners, and was very afraid for him.

Right then and there, I asked Carolyn if she would mind if I (we) prayed for her son together. I have never in my life done anything like this before, and it surprised even me. I felt the Holy Spririt prompting me (as David reminded us on Sunday; the HS only prompts us to good things). She agreed, and we held hands, sitting next to each other on that wall in front of God and all of the dozens of people going in and out of the Smithfield Courthouse at noon on a Tuesday afternoon. (This part, I did not even think about until just this minute.)

I thanked God for this beautiful fall day, but then went right into praying for his blessings for Carolyn and for Will. I prayed that the Lord would guard and keep Will safe from harm and not let him become afraid. I also prayed for Carolyn to have peace of mind in knowing that Jesus was there with her son in jail at that very moment. I then asked God to be with Carolyn and Will in the coming days and to show His love to her and her family.

This was not something that I could have ever done without the knowledge we have learned at Crosswalk. I praise God for his merciful love for all of us and I will continue to pray for Carolyn and her family over the course of the next few days, especially. Will's court date is on Thursday at 10:00 in the morning. I will always treasure the look of gratitude, and dare I say, "relief" on Carolyn's face when we hugged after praying together.

David, you are right when you say that it is not just the "affirmed" who are blessed when we encourage one another, but the "encourager" as well.

God Bless -- Marthann