An Unforgettable Encounter in the Most Unlikeliest of Places…

Today was the day that Jennifer Beebe was going to buy dumbbells. However, she needed a nap first. 

“I heard the Lord say, "No, get up and go get your dumbbells." 

And I said, "Okay." So, I told my husband,” Jennifer said. 

Ryne Beebe said, “When God tells her something, she will drop everything, you know? It's hard to comprehend that level of obedience.”    

Jennifer learned long ago not to question God’s instructions. So, she and her husband Ryne drove to the local sporting goods store in Peoria, Illinois to buy dumbbells. 

On the way, they noticed a homeless couple holding up a sign at an intersection.  

Jennifer said, "let's stop right now." And he said, "No." He said, "Let's go to the sporting goods store first." Of course this has to be God,” Jennifer said.

Ryne said, “There was no dumbbells in the sporting goods store, like that seems impossible.”

“It made absolutely no sense,” said Jennifer. “And I thought, why in the world did we have to come here?”  

The reason would soon be known as they drove home. The couple they saw earlier had moved to another spot.

Jennifer said, “We see them at the gas station. I had $20 on me and I was like, "Well, I know I need to give that to them and then I want to pray for them."

Doug Stacy had been homeless for 20 years, Heather, not as long. Both were drug addicts, trying to stay comfortable in the 100 plus heat. 

Ryne said, “So we just pull right up on them, jump out, start talking to them.”

Doug said, “He's like, "I believe in God and, and this and that.”

Heather said, “And I’m like, "Oh boy, what do we, what do we have in store for today?" 

Jennifer said, “I would love to pray for you. I said, "In fact, the Lord put on my heart that I needed to go get a set of dumbbells.” 

Heather said, “I was like, "She's lying. There's no way." Like that sounds crazy.”

Jennifer said, “And I remember Heather looking at me and she just, it was like she went white. She told me that about an hour before a man had come up to them and handed them a set of dumbbells out of the blue.” 

Heather said, “We had a pair of dumbbells in the pull behind carts that we had on our bikes.” 

Jennifer said, “It was absolutely a confirmation to me, yes. And I love when the Lord works in that kind of way. “So, I prayed for them and then as I’m standing there praying, i heard the Lord say, "I want you to go put them up in a hotel."

Jennifer and Ryne took the homeless couple to a local hotel and paid for a two-week stay. Heather and Doug couldn’t remember the last time they had a shower, a bed, and a locked door for safety.

Heather said, “It just felt like we didn't deserve that. I think, Ryne and Doug went and got us some food, and we sat at the picnic table for a while and we talked and hugged a lot and cried a lot and said thank you a lot.”  

The couples exchanged phone numbers and kept in touch briefly until Doug’s phone was lost. 

Jennifer said, “I continued to pray for them. I thought about them quite often.” 

Heather said, “We always thought of them every time we stood out on that corner flying a sign, you know, I’m like, "I hope maybe they'll just ride by and see us."

The Beebe’s continued to follow God’s prompting, helping anyone they saw in need. Then one day, four years later, while eating at a Mission BBQ, Jennifer happened to look across the restaurant. 

Jennifer said, “I told Ryne, I’m like, "Babe, look at that woman." 

Ryne said, “I tell Jen, where do I know her from? 

Jennifer said, “I think that's the couple we prayed for. " And Ryne is looking and he is going, "It is, it's them. It's Heather and Doug." 

Tentatively, Jennifer and Ryne walked over.

Heather said, "And she goes, "This is going to sound crazy if I don't have the right people, but did you guys used to be homeless?" And then everybody started crying. 

Heather and Doug never forgot the love and generosity shown to them that hot September day.

For another year and a half after that encounter, they continued living on the streets. Still, something in them had changed.  

Heather said, “Willing to meet us where we're at and take us exactly who we, who we were at that moment, you know. It’s kind of maybe was the tipping point in us trusting people from the Christian community again.”

Finally, exhausted by their lifestyle, the couple checked into a drug treatment center and got clean. They also started going to church learning more about God’s love.  

Doug said, “We prayed even at our bottom. We met a few good people and we were like, "God, I want to be like them." And we became those people.”

Heather and Doug both got jobs and rented an apartment. Doug began writing music, pouring out his heart to God.

Doug recites lyrics, “Reach down Redeemer, pull me from the grave. In your endless mercy, you teach this broken heart to grieve. Only you, only you set my spirit free. Oh God, help me, help me be.” 

After reuniting, the Beebe’s and the Stacy’s continued to stay in touch. Today, Heather works with the homeless and is planting seeds much like Jennifer, trusting God will bring growth.

Heather said, “We see and put people first and we lead with love and, nobody can or will tell me that I don't know what it's like. Yeah. cause I absolutely do.” 

“Sometimes it's just in these small things that you don't realize by stepping out in faith and obedience what that down stream’s going to do,” said Jennifer.