God Uses Ear Wax

"No. I will not go to the store and buy an ear wax removal kit for you," I replied to my dear husband.

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TMI? Normally, I would say, yes, that's TMI, but this time I couldn't help but see how God uses the craziest things to fulfill His plans.

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Ben had come home from a long day at work and was very tired, but he was having some pain in his right ear. He concluded that he must have some water trapped in there along with, yes, a bit of ear wax.

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Now, before you go judging my husband, I must let you know that he has impeccable hygiene habits and ear wax is just something that happens to everyone. You are not immune, either. Back to the story.

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Looking online, he saw that Walgreen's had an ear wax removal kit for $5.99 that he wanted to try before resorting to the doctor. Since I was heading out to taxi Gabby around, he thought it would be convenient for me to run by Walgreen's and pick it up for him. What he didn't anticipate, however, was that I wasn't too thrilled with going into a store of any kind and asking a stranger where the ear wax removal kits were, knowing that they'd assume it was for me, and I like to pretend that I'm one of those that are immune to conditions of this sort.

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Desperate, Ben told me to just preface my question with "My husband needs..." Suddenly my mind flashed back to the many personal and embarrassing items that my loving husband had picked up for me at the store during my pregnancies, baby raising years, and various feminine moments. How he found me just the right nursing bra, I'll never know. I agreed to the task.

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Of course the pharmacist at Walgreen's was surrounded by customers, dissuading me from asking him where I might find such a kit, for fear someone else would hear and try to catch a peak in my ear. So, I circled the aisles a few times, trying to look like I knew what I was doing so as to avoid a helpful employee asking if they could help me locate something. Finally, I saw the sign for eye & ear care. Bingo. There it was. $5.99, just as Ben had said.

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Grabbing some light bulbs to perhaps distract the checker from seeing my main purchase, I made my way up to the check-out, paid for my items and made my way out the door. Mission accomplished....so I thought.

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"Ma'am. I'm not asking for money or anything...."

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There she was with her opening line: the girl waiting outside the sliding door in the cold night air. She pled her case: out for a walk, suddenly got dark, scared to walk home, cold, doesn't need money, isn't dangerous, can I take her home?

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Can I take her home? Of course I can, but the actual question is: should I take her home? My mind played out every possible worst case scenario situation: guns, knives, accomplices, robbery, grand theft auto, etc. Wishing my husband was with me, I decided to ask her detailed questions to assess how quickly and accurately she could answer them, all the while looking at her body and hands to see if she was hiding anything, and watching her eyes to see if she would make eye contact with someone hiding in the bushes or around the corner. I offered the use of my phone so that she could call someone to come and pick her up. She said she'd already used the phone inside Walgreen's and couldn't reach anyone.

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I shot up a quick arrow prayer, and said, "Lord, I'm gonna do this and I'm going to talk about You all the way there. Perhaps this is a divine appointment that you scheduled and I will take advantage of every moment I have with this girl. Keep me safe and speak to her heart."

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So, trusting God more than her, we made our way to my truck as she explained where her rental house was. As I hopped in the driver's seat, I slid my purse under my feet, still unsure about the situation.

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As I asked her about her life and why she would be stuck wandering around cold after dark, I got the sense that she was not in a good living environment and that she seemed to feel trapped by her unfortunate circumstances and didn't know what to do about it.

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Her name is Caitlyn. She is 19 and lives with her boyfriend. She dropped out of high school after her sophomore year. She would like to go to Chemeketa and learn to be a veterinarians assistant, but she doesn't have her GED and can't get a job to earn the money to move forward. Her boyfriend treats her poorly, but not abusively she said, and she feels like she needs to get out of his house but has nowhere to go and no money with which to do it.

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When asked about church, she told me that she'd grown up in the church but had since walked away from God. I explained to her that the awesome thing about God is that even though we walk away from Him, He never walks away from us. All we ever have to do is just turn back and He'll be right there eagerly waiting for us, regardless of what we've done. I told her about our church and then I told her about the UGM's Simonka Place. I explained that she could get a brand-new start there, learning about the plan that God has for her, and gaining the opportunity to finish her studies and get her life back on track.

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As I pulled up to Catilyn's home, I told her that I would be praying for her and that Jesus loves her and always will. I told her to call the Simonka Place in the morning to see how they could help her. She said she would think about it.

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And that was it. She let herself in the front door and I began to pray for her, wondering if I'd ever see her again, and whether my words made any difference in her life. I was thankful that it was me that took her home rather than someone else who may not have had her best interest in mind.

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But most of all, I was thankful that my husband had ear wax.

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Please pray for Caitlyn.