Tres

So, remember the street sweeper? Well, we prayed against street sweepers disrupting our sleep last night and it worked! Exceeeeeept that God sent us a Bobcat. Haha In the largest parking lot ever in Columbia, Missouri, it just so happened to drive RIGHT BY OUR VAN at one o'clock in the morning. We all three simultaneously sat up, looked out the window, laughed, and went back to sleep. It was great. And coooooool (literally - no hotness).

Encounters:

• We walked through the Columbia Mall but very few of the stores were open so we continued on to the fountain (clue!) outside one of the entrances. There we sat as God downloaded more clues to our list. After a few minutes of sitting, God gave me (Brooke) the clue of orange hair. Not ten minutes later a woman climbed out of her car with orange hair. Not red, ORANGE. We approached her, prayed for her family, and returned to our bench. A few minutes after that, the sprinkler system in the grass right behind us sprang to life and we took it as a sign that we either needed a shower or needed to go inside - or both :)
  
• We continued to walk through the mall and decided to go to the Target connected to it. We walked around for a while until I (Dani) remembered that I had the clue balloons. So, we walked over to the party aisle and saw balloons and balloons on a birthday bag. We also saw daisies on a bag which was another clue that we had. We waited around for a while and this lady walked by. Right as she walked by Kiersten saw a lady that was pushing a set of twins in a stroller which was also a clue. Right then and there we had to decide which way we were going to go because we didn't want to split up. I really felt like we were supposed to pray for the lady in the balloon aisle, so we did. Her name is April and she said that her daughter Elena was in Alabama for the summer with her father. You could tell that it was very hard for her and she was very stressed. She said that this was the longest she had been gone from her. We encouraged her to give her stress to God. She said that she really needed it. Later we walked by her and she was talking on the phone and she looked like she was telling someone about us approaching her. It really made me happy that we could encourage her this way.
  
• As we were walking out of Target, I (Kiersten) saw a girl on crutches coming right at us. And, uh... crutches was a clue God had given me right before we went into the mall. So we all went up to her, and I showed her the list and how crutches was third from the top! Her name was Addy, and she was pretty freaked out, haha. But, I explained that she was God's treasure and He loved her enough to heal her. I asked if I could pray for her leg (which she had broken and it wasn't healing right), and she was completely for it. So I put my hand on her leg and asked God to heal it. And yes, I was meaning right there and then. In front of Panera where people were now watching. Haha. And yeah, it was kind of awkward. But, I didn't really care. My reputation could dissolve quite frankly, as long as God is glorified! And no... her leg wasn't healed right there, but I don't doubt the fact that God still can. It's up to Him though :) I just keep praying.
• We walked into Jo-Ann Fabric in the Jefferson City mall in Missouri and found 6!!!! clues in one area. We waited around for a while and a lady named Amy walked into the aisle and looked around. We prayed for her house to sell. We believe that she was the only reason we were supposed to be at that mall. God is awesome.

Thought for the day:

• Dani here! DON'T PASS UP OPPORTUNITIES! Today while we were sitting by the fountain a guy in a green shirt passed by. I didn't think anything of it. I had shoes as a clue and I saw him again in the shoe store. I felt like I was maybe supposed to pray for him, but I didn't. So, Kiersten said that 3 was the number of confirmation so if we saw him again I would pray for him. I did see him again, but we couldn't catch up to him and we didn't want to be too creepy. I never saw him again after that. I really felt like I was supposed to pray for him. I knew I should have done it right there in the shoe store. We are learning and growing more every day. I feel like God is giving us more boldness every day. We WILL NOT pass up any more opportunities. :)
  
• Alright, baton is passing to me (Kiersten) now :) again same message... don't pass up your opportunities. Sometimes those treasures may be right in your home, your "convenient" life. We are now in Jefferson City, MO staying with Brooke's grandparents for the night. They dropped us off to look at the Governor's garden (garden being a clue we had earlier today). There were 3 different fountains surrounding us (another clue). So this whole time I'm thinking, there has got to be a treasure here God wants us to find. Well, we meet up with Brooke's cousin Jacob, who is showing us around. All the while I am focused on finding someone. Then later after we left, I got to thinking... the treasure was there the whole time, and I never ceased the opportunity. So Jacob, if you're reading... thanks for showing us around! And may God bless you, and may you know you are the treasure that He wants to let know how much He loves. He has great purpose for your life.
  

Blessings/Fun Stuff:

• We finally got to shower!!! Hallelujah!!!
  
• As we were driving into Jefferson City we passed by a billboard that said "DREAM BIG" :)
• We were fed and housed by some of the best grandparents EVER! Thanks, Evelyn and Jack Starr for the great time. We love you.
  
• Missouri has the cheapest gas in the nation right now!!! (we are filling up before we leave!!!)

We will add pictures of this day tomorrow. :) For now it is past our bedtime.

Dream big...bdk