Having worked late the night before as a security officer at Fashion Island, and having attended an employee meeting there at 6:30 the next morning, the last thing Dessely Miller wanted to do was to meet her prayer partner by the carousel afterwards. She was dog-tired and just wanted to get some sleep — but she had given her word.

As she waited for her friend to arrive, Dessely happened upon a man setting up a display kiosk in the courtyard. Taking notice of the cross he wore around his neck, she (being a Christian herself) asked him if he was a believer. He said that indeed he was and their conversation resulted in the man asking Dessely if he could pray for her.

And she was in need of prayer, for she was on the road to a renewed relationship with God and had needs that she was trusting God to fulfill. As it turned out, the man (Edgar Serrano) happened to be a representative of the Orange County Rescue Mission on assignment to Fashion Island in order to promote the Village of Hope. After they prayed, Dessely took some contact information and went off to meet her friend.

She shared with her prayer partner how she felt that God had arranged her meeting with Edgar. Until then, Dessely could never relate to people who would say, “God spoke to me today...” or “The Lord sent someone into my life today.” Could it be happening to her? She couldn't be sure...

When she accepted Jesus as her savior at age 13, Dessely was told, “You're not good enough to be a Christian.” Knowing in herself that this was (of course) true, she became driven by the unforgiving tyranny of self-reliance and took on the impossible task of becoming “good enough.” Consequently (as do all who embark on this journey), she encountered inevitable failure.

It wasn't until much later in life that Dessely made the revolutionary discoverery that she would never — could never — be good enough. Was she discouraged? Disheartened? On the contrary, she was relieved. She found out, as a matter of fact, that no one could be good enough, and that she no longer had to try to be. She needed only to trust in Jesus to compensate for her inadequacies and rely on Him for her right standing with God.

In July 2005, Dessely followed up on the contact information she had received and called the Orange County Rescue Mission. Pastor Jim Womack was assigned as her case manager and she began receiving some of the assistance for which she had been depending on God: rental assistance, vocational computer training, food, counseling, prayer and more.

“God has surely used this organization to get me on my way,” says Dessely. “I can't say thank you enough!”

But where would Dessely Miller be today had she not kept her promise to meet her prayer partner that day? And was it really God who orchestrated her meeting with Edgar? Dessely thinks so. She's tried trusting in herself, with unfavorable results. Dessely has decided to put her trust in Someone much more worthy of it — Someone who has both the power and the desire for her to succeed.