Unexpected Lunch Dates

So today started out like any other day. It was the first day of classes for the Fall quarter and so I got up way early to catch my bus at 6:30. UCR and RTA have partnered up to allow UCR students to ride the bus for free. Free ride? Hundred dollar parking permit and three dollar a gallon gas prices? I’ll take the free ride.

So after sleeping my way through most of the day, I caught my bus for the ride home.  My bus route travels through downtown riverside, a place with tons of potential most of which has not been realized yet.  So I am sitting on the bus heading down University which is known for its…um…late night business?

Anyways, the bus pulls up to a stop and a woman gets on. As I am watching her she looks frazzled and very much like a stripper. She is wearing a black lace halter top, black pants with a leopard thong sticking out and really heavy makeup. As she puts her change into the bus meter, which takes a few minutes because of the small denominations, a thought pops into my head, “You should love on her.”

WHAT?

“You should love on her,” the now recognizable voice says, this is the voice that stretches me to do things I really don’t want to or understand. “Ask her how she is, what’s her name, if she knows Jesus” the voice pushes on.

“Okay,” I try to compromise, “if she sits next to me, I’ll talk to her.” I should have known better then to try and compromise. The girl walked by, a breathed a sigh of relief thinking I was out of the danger zone.

“That’s not good enough.” The voice continued, “Go love on her.”

Alright, I’m done. I pull my ear phones out of my ears and wait for the next stop. I get up and walk to the back of the bus where she is sitting, trying desperately to come up with an introduction. She, meanwhile, is spritzing up the place with perfume. I get a whiff, it smells nice.

“That smells really pretty, what is it?” I ask.

“Thank you. It’s Celine Dion.” She answers.

“I’m Jessica.”

“Nicole”

That’s how it started.  I later found out that Nicole, is really a man going through hormone therapy to change her(his?) sex. I don’t feel like it’s my story to completely share, at least not here, but the afternoon ended with me taking Nicole to lunch at El Territo. She shared with me some of the struggles that she had been going through in life. Alot of them had to deal with being unloved. She spoke of God alot and how she knew that He loved her. I knew that He loved her too. I invited her to church this weekend, gave her one of my favorite sweaters, my phone number and some extra bus fare. I hope that I will see her there and that she will find out who it really is, the God that she calls on.

What a strange day! To think what I would have missed out on if I didn’t get out of bed today.