a (C R A Z Y!!!) uber story.

Hey friends! I’ve got quite the story to share with y’all. Bear with me - it’s a little long - but I think it's worth the read!

This past Wednesday, I got back from work, walked into my dorm hall, and immediately went into my friends room. I looked at them and told them the craziest thing just happened to me. Before I could say anything else, my eyes began to tear up, my hands started shaking, and I couldn’t contain my emotions. My friends looked at me concerned, but I promised them they were “happy tears” and everything was okay. I was completely overwhelmed with happiness, shock, thankfulness, and a whole bunch of other feelings, and I guess my emotions just couldn’t hold it in! I finally got myself together and sat down on their floor to tell them this story...

First, let me give you a little background. I am a nanny for a sweet family in Dallas, but don’t have a car, so I Uber to work every day. Yes, I know that sounds a little crazy, but don’t worry my friends track me & I carry pepper-spray in my purse;) But anyways, riding Uber an average of 6-8 times a week, I meet well...let’s say...lots of interesting people! Sometimes my Ubers don’t talk to me and we enjoy a nice 20ish minutes or so of silence together or I get Ubers that try to start awkward small talk. The other night, as I got in my Uber, I thought it was just going to be another typical ride back to campus, but the conversation I ended up having with my driver was something I know I will never forget.

As I got in my Uber, I was enthusiastically greeted by a man named Todd. Todd began asking me how my day was, my weekend, my month and I could quickly tell Todd was a very lively, happy person. The way our conversation started was by Todd asking me where I was headed. I told him I go to Dallas Baptist University and study business entrepreneurship. He started telling me that he himself is an entrepreneur and owns his own personal training company. He then started talking to me more & more about his business, wife, kids, and fitness. As he was telling me a story about him first starting his business, he told me if there was one thing he learned most, it was the importance of having faith. I noticed this and wondered if he was maybe a Christian and if this faith meant faith in God. We continued talking and it was soon very clear how strong of a Christian faith he had. He went on and on about how important it is to trust God in every aspect of life, even business! Okay...now this guy had my full attention.

He shared with me that the main reason he drives for Uber is because he loves meeting people and thinks it’s the greatest opportunity to be able to give people hope and share the Gospel with them. I’m telling you HOW COOL WAS THIS GUY?!?! He literally uses Uber as a platform and opportunity to share the Gospel and just encourage people!!

All of this happened in probably the first 5 minutes of driving and we still had about 20 minutes to go. Next, he told me that the one thing he does every time before he Ubers is pray and ask the Lord to keep him and his passengers safe, give him the ability to focus, and for conversations like the one we were having to come up in his car. I was sitting in the back seat in absolute amazement because (I am not joking!!!) literally 2 days before this I had started to ask the Lord to give me opportunities while I’m Ubering to be able to just talk about Him. I prayed that He would become something that constantly came up in my conversations when I Uber, in whatever way He intended that to happen. I had realized that I spend, on average, a little under 3 ½ hours in an Uber every week. That’s 8 different random strangers I encounter weekly and I have about a 25 minute opportunity to share with them who Christ is. I felt guilty. If I’m being honest, I typically get in my Uber, look down at my phone, and hope they don’t try to start conversation with me. Sometimes I’m tired, sometimes I just want some quiet time, and sometimes I just don’t feel like talking, but the other day I realized I was missing opportunity after opportunity to share with people just how much the Lord loves and cares for them. So, as my Uber finished telling me he practically prays for the same thing every time he Ubers, I shared this with him and both of us we’re sitting there in awe. He was saying what confirmation this was to him and his prayers and I told him that it was the same for me. The Lord was showing me that this can happen and will happen if I one, actually participate in conversation with my Uber and two, continue praying for opportunities to come up to be able to share who Jesus is and how He’s changed my life.

Before I continue on with the conversation we had for the rest of the drive home, let me tell you, Todd is a man full of so much knowledge! He was speaking into every aspect of my life, left and right, and the entire ride I sat in the back of his car with a smile on my face just admiring the way the Lord uses other people to encourage us and remind us that He is at work and He does hear our prayers. Todd shared stories with me, advice, encouragement, and although it was only a 25 minute drive, I felt like I had just attended a weekend conference. The words he spoke over me, to me, and about our Father are things I felt the Lord wanting me to pass along to y’all.

So back to my story: As our conversation continued, both of us sat there feeling overwhelmed and amazed by the way our Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need in certain seasons of our life to give us hope and remind us just how faithful He is. He sometimes uses the most unique ways to do so, in this case, mine & Todd’s car ride and conversation, but this goes to show how magnificent He truly is. This was something neither of us intended to occur or were expecting. Todd told me he had “God bumps”, not goose-bumps, but “God bumps”. He said he calls them these because sometimes the Lord will do things and you’ll just know it’s from Him. I think that’s a phrase I’m going to be stealing from him;)

Todd said a lot of people get in his car and ask him how he’s so happy and upbeat. He said this is the way a lot of his conversations with people begin and he always responds by saying that when circumstances come at him, which could alter his attitude, he is reminded that there is a greater purpose as to what he is living for and chasing after. This being an eternal relationship with a Father who promises to care for him and give him joy even on the days when he may feel he’s lacking it. This entire idea is something I have actually been thinking about a lot lately. The way we approach our days, our circumstances, and our challenges has a HUGE affect on their outcome. At our Zeta meeting the other night, we read a paper called “I AM A CHILD OF THE KING”. ((I’ll post a picture at the bottom because wow is it worth a read!)) It describes who we are as children of the King and what this looks like in literally every aspect and circumstance of life. Our group decided to pick one line from it to meditate on this week and the one that happened to stand out to me was: “I am spiritually alive. I have been set free from the fear of death and have been given life to live and enjoy to the full”. These words resonated with me because recently the Lord has been speaking to me a lot about focusing on TODAY and today only. There is no need to worry about what is to come tomorrow or the day after that or even the day after that, because He has gone before us and already figured it all out. So why not live every moment of life joyfully? Being vulnerable, I’ve been dealing with a season of worry and stress, unsure of what the future may look like for me, and Jesus has been teaching me through prayer, His word, sermons, literally anything - you name it - that this is not what He desires for any of us. In Matthew 6:34 it clearly states:

“THEREFORE, DO NOT WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW, FOR TOMORROW WILL WORRY ABOUT ITSELF”

Sorry about the caps, but sometimes it’s something I feel someone just needs to yell at me right in my face!!! There is NO need to worry about tomorrow, because our God has already perfectly planned every day that lies ahead of us and He will provide for us every. single. day.

Now I know this has been long, but stay with me!! :) The last part of our car ride consisted of Todd sharing a story with me. Todd began telling me the story of how him and his wife met and the patience he had to have with the Lord before reaching this moment. Not only is this an amazing story, but what he said at the very end truly shocked me. When Todd was 18 years old, he was praying one day and felt God telling him to grab a blank piece of paper and write down all the things He wanted in a wife. So he did - and wrote everything down, searching his heart to see what it was that the Lord wanted for him. He felt the Lord tell him to pray over it every night, so he did. Fast forward to Todd meeting his wife and later being engaged, Todd one day remembered this paper. He found it and saw the date in the top right hand corner from back when he was 18. He looked at it and started going through the list marking off every single thing. He told me he wasn’t over exaggerating this and that every single detail he wrote down perfectly described the woman who was about to become his wife. He said this was a crazy moment and he spent some time praying after reading it. He told me that during this time, He heard God tell him to take that piece of paper and turn it over. He said “what do you mean its blank” and the Lord responded to him by saying “as far as a bonus plan, she’s going to be all this and even more than what’s on your paper”. Todd told me he realized that the Lord knew exactly who he wanted for Todd and all he had to do was wait for the right moment. On top of that, God not only had the perfect person in store for him, but promised him even more.

Continuing to be vulnerable with y’all (even though it’s hard, but I know it’s what the Lord wants me to do!!!) what Todd said next absolutely shook my world. It was crazy. The Lord clearly had His hand in this conversation because this was something that only could have happened through Him.

So here’s me being truthful & vulnerable with where I’m at right now. Trusting God’s timing is something that I have been truly practicing for about a year now. I’ve shared about this a lot in previous blogs, but to say it simply, the Lord has tested me over and over again, in seriously every aspect of my life to see just how much I really trust Him. I know I’ve grown tremendously in this and also know I still have a lot of room for improvement. What the Lord wants for me is to fully trust His timing in every situation and it’s something I’m working on. Specifically, in the last 6 months or so, He’s been teaching me to trust His timing in relationships. Yup that’s right...Now this isn’t going to be a long post on “singleness” because trust me I’ve seen a lot of those too, but being honest, and I know I’m not the only young woman that struggles with this, but sometimes waiting for that “right person” is exhausting and difficult. We say we’ll wait for God’s timing, but...we also want it now. I’m guilty of this and that’s why I know the Lord has been trying to teach me to allow myself to fully & completely hand everything over to Him and allow Him to make it perfect in His own timing.

I had not shared any of this with Todd in our short car ride. Never did I mention I was single or working on accepting the Lord’s timing for me in this area of life. I never asked him how he met his wife and I truly cannot even remember how we got to him telling me this story. However, as soon as Todd finished sharing that story with me, he said “now why am I telling you that…I don’t know young lady, but I felt there was a reason in me sharing that story with you”. I clearly remember this being exactly what he said. He didn’t stop there though. He went on to tell me that God’s got someone in store for me and when it’s time, I’ll know. Key phrase here: “when it’s time”!!! Again, never did I mention this is something I am guilty of questioning the Lord with His timing. It was the craziest thing. Lastly, he told me to just let the Lord do His thing and remember that there’s never a need to push it so hard. Never in the entirety of our conversation did Todd know what I was thinking about in my own head.

As we pulled up to campus Todd encouraged me with some final words telling me that the best way to live our lives is to just grab His hand, don’t let go, and He will take us through it all. He told me to trust and love the Lord with every fiber in my body. I thanked him, telling him how much his words, stories, and encouragement meant to me and how greatly I needed to hear everything he said. As I was getting out of the car, he told me before he picked up his next ride he was going to pull over to the side and lift me up in prayer and praise the Lord for our conversation. Y’all this was when my emotions started to hit me. I said goodnight, shook his hand, and walked inside feeling immensely overwhelmed with love and seen so clearly by my Father in Heaven who is constantly looking out for me, even when I don’t know it. I was taken back by how much everything Todd told me fit into exactly where I am in life right now, but that is the work of Jesus Christ!! He cares for each and every one of us, more than we could ever comprehend, and wants us to know this & see it! It’s been a few days since this all happened and I still can’t stop thinking about it. It was truly one of those “Jesus moments” that I never expected or knew I needed, but He sure knew I did.

I am loved by a God who knows me and has a unique and perfect plan in store for me, better than anything I could ever dream of. Now that’s comforting.

Who knew this Uber drive would turn into some of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received. I think we could use some more Todds in our world :-)

As always, thanks for reading! Praying for you friends + the week ahead!

xoxo,

b.