"Its a small world after all"

 The words that make up the title of this post are the words my really good friend from Summer Project, Evan, texted me after I had a really weird but pretty cool incident. I was watching a Youtube video that Joey Gatto posted the other day. The video was Joey interviewing a homeless man, who was obviously on some kind of drugs, in Union Square Park in New York. I commented on the video that the homeless man reminded me of a homeless guy we met in New York named Chilligan, who also just happened to be in Union Square Park when we met him. Another viewer replied to my comment that he actually knew Chilligan. Woah! How crazy is that?! I replied how crazy that was that he actually knew the very man that I just met in June while doing evangelism with some of my friends on project. The guy replied back that he has actually known Chilligan for about a year, & Chilligan's been helping him with a project he's doing about the homeless youth in NYC. Insane! I texted all of my friends that were with me when we had initially ran into Chilligan & his girlfriend, Maggie, back in June. Evan had just happened to text me after the second reply from the stranger & commented back, "Its a small world after all". My mind is blown! When I think of that phrase, I think back to the ride at Disney World & the song that went along with it that people usually get fed up with after a while. But on this day it made me realize that the world seems big to us, but to God it's small in comparison to Him & his majesty. I was also reminded of this today when I was walking around campus. EKU isn't the biggest campus, but I never would have expected that I would run into so many people that I have met since being here & someone who could potentially be a new friend. First, I was sitting at a table outside of where we eat at after lunch waiting on my friend Lindsey. All of a sudden I'm looking down at my phone & I hear this freshman girl walk up to the table I was sitting at & asked if she could sit down. I agreed & texted Lindsey where I was & that I was sitting with a girl when she got there. There had been a miscommunication in the meeting up, but that gave me the opportunity to talk to this girl. She told me she was a freshman & hadn't made very many friends. So, I asked if she was involved in anything outside of classes or if she went to church. She said she was part of NOVA (first generartion college students) & that she didn't have a religion. She had Christian friends & wanted to believe in Jesus, but the lack of physical proof was holding her back from believing. We discussed that you can't force someone to believe; they have to receive it on their own. She also mentioned that she hadn't really talked about religion since her freshman year of high school. At first, I thought she was gonna push me away once I started talking about God, but she was open to listen & even agreed to try to come to a Cru meeting. God really opened a door for opportunity! I wish I had been able to invite her to Bible Study & get her phone number, but she had to rush off to class before I got the chance. She did thank me for talking to her & said she hoped to see me again. I just pray that she genuinely meant what she said. So after that, I decided to chill in Starbucks until my class started. As soon as I walked in, there sat my friends, Ben & Kayla, & a guy who's in Ben's Bible Study. It was great to sit down for a bit & talk to Kayla, who I hadn't gotten to see in what seemed like forever, & catch up with how Ben's semester had been going so far since we hardly had time to just sit down & talk. While I was talking with them, my friend Lauren showed up for a bit & chatted about her day. After Kayla, Ben, Lauren, & the guy from Ben's Bible Study, Mac, left, I was about to leave when my friend Rachel popped in, & we also got to talk for a bit about how our summers were & how the semester was going so far for both of us. Lindsey also appeared while I was talking to Rachel, because she was meeting up with one of our Bible Study girls to talk more about Cru & Bible Study & other things to get to know her more. I finally left Starbucks around 3pm, after being there for about an hour. Once again, on my way to class, I ran into my friend (& Rachel's roommate), Natasha. We talked for a short bit about the class she got out of & the class I was going too (2 different classes). I walked to my class after that, & didn't run into anyone else...until I saw my friend Gina as I was leaving the bathroom after class. Thinking back to my sophomore year when I transferred to now, it's amazing to see how many connections I have made through God & Cru. I came in barely knowing anyone, & now I feel like I can't go anywhere without recognizing at least one person. I am truly blessed! It really is "a small world after all"!

Live for God & Love for Jesus!
-Patience <3 =)