“Five months ago, I was going to drive off a bridge. I couldn’t do life anymore. As I began to veer off the road, I heard someone say, ‘Wait!’ So I detoured. I came to Gateway for the first time the following weekend. I listened to Pastor Robert with an open heart and have been coming back every weekend. The other night, I attended Equip for the first time with my one-year-old in tow. She was fussy and hungry, and the children’s ministry class would not open for another 45 minutes. I thought about just going home. But suddenly I smelled Mexican food. One of the servers directed me to the café to buy a ticket for the meal. The cashier started ringing up my order, and I instantly got nervous. The total was $4. I fumbled through my purse, purposely overlooking my wallet, knowing I only had 89 cents. I was too ashamed to say this and instead told the cashier I left my wallet in the car and had to go get it. The cashier paused, looked in my eyes, and said, ‘The Gateway Café will cover it.’ In my pride, I told her no. But she insisted, and I was so thankful. I fed my baby at the tables in the café, trying not to cry. No one knew I had just filed for bankruptcy and am often penniless. No one knew I drove to church on a prayer because my gas tank had been on ‘E’ since that morning. No one knew I purposely left my other child with my neighbor that night because I knew my neighbor would feed him. No one knew that I came to church hungry. But God knew. I left Equip that night feeling renewed and seen. Through Gateway, He blessed me with what may seem so small to some but meant everything to me.”
May 10, 2018