the girl with the mints.

In January, I went to Hillsong/NYC on a random Sunday with some friends. When we got there, we were greeted by this girl carrying a bucket of mints. They were supposed to be an ice breaker, you know. Offer a mint and say hello. She laughed at how silly it was, but she said she wasn't good at the simple greeting thing.

We had lunch with her later on, after service. She told us about her life in New York and Hillsong Church. She told us about her recent move to the city from Virginia, where she had lived her whole life. She told us about her even more recent trip to Hollywood for American Idol and how she went home for Christmas after she didn't make it to the next round.

And then she talked about how she almost didn't go back to the city because staying home was so comfortable and she could really have a nice life there. She talked about what it was like to have a dream and how scary it is to watch that dream come true. But she mostly talked about faith and her decision to go back to the city, where she knew God wanted her.

That's other the thing. This girl with the mints said she wasn't on the schedule to be a greeter that day I met her. She just loved the church and decided to continue being a part of it, even on a day she wasn't required to be there. She probably didn't think anything of it, but on days like today, I can't stop thinking about her.

I wonder if she knows that her story is what's helping me live mine.