"That One"

I was putting the baby's carseat in the van when my eye caught movement across the street on the busy intersection of a shopping center. A person stood there, back to me, holding a sign, wearing several layers and a stocking cap against the February cold. The Lord said to me, "That one." and I tried to shake the certainty of THAT voice as I pondered the possibilities. It looked like a young man. Perhaps the sign said he needed a ride. I was alone. Would it even be safe to take him somewhere?
And yet the nudging of the Spirit was just as firm.
I wish I could say that I drove over ready to act, but I must admit, I had barely talked myself into taking a closer look as I drove to the other parking lot and nonchalantly turned around so that I could read the sign:

BEING EVICTED
HAVE 11 MONTH OLD BABY
NEED $100

It was a woman. She was older than me, or at least had a very hard life that had aged her. I prayed. "Lord, what do you want me to do here?"
Aside from the "That one," I wasn't sure of anything. I looked in my wallet. I had $30.
A bit uncertainly I took the money and got out of the van.
I walked over to her and offered the money.
She thanked me.
"Do you have enough yet?"
She said she was almost there.
"I know GOD," I started, (My mind said Great! Really Smooth!!) "
and HE pointed you out to me when I was over there. " I pointed behind her to the other parking lot.

It was then that she started breaking down, talking a mile-a-minute. She told me she had been standing there crying out to God,
"Please God if You still care about me, answer my prayer! I just need to know one more time that You still hear me and love me. I just need to know what to do!"
"I should have known, "she lamented, "if He loved me enough to send His Son and die for me that He would answer me now. He brought me out of the pit I was living in and He has brought me so far, but now I am losing my house and I don't know what to do!"
I learned her name was Alexandra, that the baby was her grandbaby who was living with her along with his parents. Physical evidence suggested Alexandra had been an alcoholic, but she was stone sober and testifying to God’s salvation as she poured out her dilemma.
The question was where should she go next. If she went back to Portland where her 21 year old son had been living, he would surely get involved with the same people who were selling meth and put himself back in jeopardy. "It would be like a dog returning to his vomit," she said, quoting an obscure biblical metaphor.
And yet... She had been standing in her kitchen earlier that day and had the strongest feeling out of the blue that she should go to Portland. All the time standing on the corner until I came, she had been on the indecision teeter-totter, her thoughts chasing their tails and bringing greater and greater confusion.
I took her hand and we prayed. I rebuked Satan, and asked for spirit of wisdom and understanding. When we finished, I was able to confirm that she should not go back to Portland, but on to Corvallis, where there were people to help her and she could keep working.
As we hugged, she expressed her sincere gratefulness, and I walked away in awe.
We were sisters though we had never met. She was calling out to the God of the Universe and He sent me as her answer. The hardest part was how close I came to missing the whole adventure. Talk about humbling.
I walked away resolved to listen whenever God tells me "That one," and I have a feeling Alexandra walked away resolved to keep calling out to the God who answers.