If you were a part of RefresHER Las Vegas or RefresHER Jacksonville, you know full well what I mean when I mention cardboard! Over and over again I thank God for the seat He gives me to watch women lay down their masks at the foot of the cross. You have no idea what a blessing it is to stand on the RefresHER stage and watch women desperately cry out to God! Even more amazing is the moment you each picked up another woman's mask and begged God for His strength to overtake her weakness. And then... my favorite moment of all... watching one woman after another stand to her feet holding her cardboard testimony in her hands. In the silence of that moment, God's presence just seems to become tangible. Do you remember that moment?!
Yesterday I was driving down the street in Las Vegas (the same route I drive day after day) and I past a homeless man on the side of the street. On this particular route it's not a rare sight. But this time, God poked my heart. I looked out my window and saw a man holding in his hand a piece of cardboard. "Homeless - please help." Immediately I thought about all of you sweet ladies and the cardboard sign, no different than this one, that you held up on Saturday afternoon. The only difference was that yours had writing on the other side as well. Someone had come along and showed you how to flip your cardboard over. God had entered your life and redefined the sign you once held in your hands. The man on the side of the road gripped his sign so tightly. Do you remember that moment?! Do you remember when you clung to that sign as though it defined everything you were. And perhaps it said the same thing that this one said, "Please help!" It was a cry, a plea, for God to reach into your life and write your new description on the other side.
My heart became emotional at that moment not knowing what to do! I wanted to roll down my window and yell "TURN YOUR SIGN OVER!" But I knew that wouldn't make much sense and the light had already turned green. Instead I spent the remainder of my ride home praying for that man the way you prayed for one another - Jesus, give him your strength where he is weak.
I can't pass a cardboard sign being held on the side of the road without thinking of you. I can't help but think of the ways God desires to redefine you, to transform you, and to use your cardboard as a testimony of who He is. I know there are moments where you feel like the cardboard in your hands cannot be flipped and to you I roll down my window and with faith and trust I yell, "TURN YOUR SIGN OVER!" He has written something beautiful on the other side.
Yesterday I was driving down the street in Las Vegas (the same route I drive day after day) and I past a homeless man on the side of the street. On this particular route it's not a rare sight. But this time, God poked my heart. I looked out my window and saw a man holding in his hand a piece of cardboard. "Homeless - please help." Immediately I thought about all of you sweet ladies and the cardboard sign, no different than this one, that you held up on Saturday afternoon. The only difference was that yours had writing on the other side as well. Someone had come along and showed you how to flip your cardboard over. God had entered your life and redefined the sign you once held in your hands. The man on the side of the road gripped his sign so tightly. Do you remember that moment?! Do you remember when you clung to that sign as though it defined everything you were. And perhaps it said the same thing that this one said, "Please help!" It was a cry, a plea, for God to reach into your life and write your new description on the other side.
My heart became emotional at that moment not knowing what to do! I wanted to roll down my window and yell "TURN YOUR SIGN OVER!" But I knew that wouldn't make much sense and the light had already turned green. Instead I spent the remainder of my ride home praying for that man the way you prayed for one another - Jesus, give him your strength where he is weak.
I can't pass a cardboard sign being held on the side of the road without thinking of you. I can't help but think of the ways God desires to redefine you, to transform you, and to use your cardboard as a testimony of who He is. I know there are moments where you feel like the cardboard in your hands cannot be flipped and to you I roll down my window and with faith and trust I yell, "TURN YOUR SIGN OVER!" He has written something beautiful on the other side.
Praying for you,
Vanessa Hartsell
Vanessa Hartsell