Kneeling on the filthy floor of a moving bus - the still picture

Kneeling on the filthy floor of a moving bus was not how I imagined our excursion in Seattle to go, but it is a still picture in my mind.  The most pivotal, consequential moment of that day consumed less than a few minutes and was not on the agenda at all.

We landed in Seattle after a 14 plus hour flight from Beijing. To say we were sleep deprived and loopy, may be an understatement. We had almost all day to explore the city, so we collectively decided to go to Pike Place Market.  We spent a few hours exploring before it was time to find a method of transportation to get us back to the airport.  Since we paid a fortune earlier in the day to take an Uber, (Btw, everything seemed ridiculously expensive after being in China and paying 50 cents for a cab ride), we decided to take the bus.  

I can’t remember much about the ride, i.e. who I was sitting beside, etc.  I just remember the lady sitting across the aisle from me.  She was a stout older black woman clutching a purse propped on her almost-nonexistent lap to her ample chest.  Why did I notice her at first? I don’t know.  I think we made small talk.

Somewhere along the way, I glanced at her and a small wet tear slid down her beautiful brown face.  She wasn’t looking at me.  She was looking out the front window avoiding eye contact with everyone.  Another tear chased after the first. Then another.  And another.

Without thinking, I went to her.  The only place I could position myself close to her was kneeling on the floor in front of her.  I grabbed her hand. “Can I pray for you?”  “Yes,” she squeaked out.  I don’t know what I prayed, but I prayed.  I squeezed her hand before lifting myself off the floor and going back to my seat.  I think she whispered, “Thank you."

In retrospect, I considered how He, God, orchestrated an entire team of people on their way back from China to be on that particular bus, and me - in that particular seat, at that particular moment.  I don’t have to tell you how many things had to be arranged for this moment in time.  What if we got on the bus right before that one or after that one?  What if we spent a couple minutes more at our last stop - a bakery.  What if we chose to do something else in Seattle that day?  

But for her, He would rearrange the universe, so that He could kneel at her feet and squeeze her hand at the very moment she needed Him most.  That’s just who He is.

P.S. The pic is of one of our team members, Cort, on the bus. He was dead to the world as you can see:)