Tobi

 A couple weeks ago, Marisa's mom reached out to me.  They have a friend from their church in Germany whose son is staying at a boarding school in Wisconsin - the school shuts down for a break for 9 days in March and he has nowhere to go.

They asked if we knew anybody who could take Tobi.  All I was told is he is quiet and reserved, likes games and video games and doesn't need much.

I'm not sure what their plan was when they sent Tobi to boarding school in Wisconsin.  Maybe they didn't know the school shut down in March.  Maybe they thought he would make a friend at school that wouldn't mind him going home with them?  I really don't know.

I'll be honest - part of me felt like - "what do I do with this?", "do we just be nice and take him even though I don't know how practical that is right now and that would probably stress me out?".  Do I go to my friends to try to talk them into taking this random boy into their homes?

I procrastinated a bit wondering how I should go about this and approach it.  

I know some people at my church had hosted students before, but I didn't necessarily want to ask them and make anybody feel they had to take him or make anybody feel awkward.

So - I braved the courage to post it on Facebook.  I thought "nobody will see this" or "nobody will care".

Surprisingly, 1 person from my church reached out with interest and a second inquired on Tobi's age (not sure if they were considering hosting).

In a bit of a whirlwind, this family from my church felt compelled to host this boy for 9 days.  It's a wonderful way to host and get a glimpse of the experience without committing to the whole year.  Don't like him?  Well, good news - he leaves in 9 days!  Just kidding!

So, this week I got the interested party and Tobi's mom connected and his mom's email was so heartfelt.

It made Tobi real to me.  Tobi is a boy, with a mom across the world worried about where her son would go with no place to stay - and this answered her prayers.

Tobi's mom's words: "The message today is a real answer to prayer, because Tobi's school wants to know exactly today where the holidays are going. Continued blessed time with Marisa."

This is what I think some would call a "God Moment".

You can help and make differences in the lives of others without doing much.

I was scared and felt a little pressure to be asked this, but in the end was no big deal and seems to be working out.

Thanks to the family who felt the spirit to take Tobi home with them this March.

Amen.