Studying with Maggie

I am amazed at the way that God opens doors. Often, in fact, there is a door to a person's heart that can be opened by no one but Him. I have been humbled by this lately while ministering to my English teacher friend, Maggie.

We have been friends with her almost the whole time we have lived in Shaoxing. When we met her she was quite pregnant, and we invited her up to pass on some outgrown baby clothes to her. We kept hanging out, and these two years we have done a lot together and helped each other out. I knew she was a good friend, and any time I had a good chance to bring up God or the Bible, I did so, but with little hope. I figured she would just be a friend and never develop interest in spiritual things, like so many adult friendships here turn out. Mostly, we just talked about normal daily stuff. I continued just enjoying time with her with little to no hidden agenda.

But thru a series of events, she began experiencing difficulties with her family, her mother in law in particular. I gave her a study Bible and asked her to read the book of Ruth and tell me what she thought. It's still kind of a mystery to me what is going on in her mind, but about a month later, she was ready to visit a church, she said, and was excited to study the Bible with me in my home. We had some good studies about Jesus life and teachings. She studies a bit, and then stares off into space for a moment, utterly lost in thought. It is hitting her in a really deep place. It's an amazing gift from God to get to see this, which I didn't expect to see...