“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding, but acknowledge Him in all My ways and He shall direct my path,” (Proverbs 3:5-6). Brenda Wilson starts every day reciting these lines. Wilson, a worker at a McDonald’s in Ocean Springs, MS, was recently brought to attention when a customer she served, Dylan Brooke, shared a recent experience she had with Wilson on Facebook. In the post, Brooke described going into the McDonald’s that day, breaking with her usual habit of going through the drive thru where she would normally see Wilson. Wilson, however, was at the counter. “If you know her, then you know. She’s all about love and prayers and will always say a quick prayer for you before you drive away,” Dylan wrote in her post. After describing how Wilson told her God had put it on her heart to pray for the customer, Brooke wrote,  “She got on her knees and prayed for me for every struggle I’ve been having lately. Every struggle I’ve been having that she knows nothing about. I left in tears this morning.” A picture on the post showed the two together with Wilson clutching Brooke’s hands in prayer.

The post brought Wilson to the attention of local station, WLOX. In an interview with the station, Wilson stated that she prays for everyone who goes through the drive thru, even if it’s for 15 seconds. Wilson said she considered it a calling. “If I didn’t have God, ain’t no way these folks are going to stand here and let me pray through the drive-thru and hold up their times,” she said in the interview. Wilson went on to describe a life that could have turned out very differently without the grace of God.

“He chose me when I was seven to give my testimony from when I [overdosed] when I was three and half years old. The last thing I remember the doctor saying… ‘God is gonna use her, she’s gonna be special.’ So, I’m laying there like man I’m not fixing to be special for God. He let my mom abuse me. He allowed certain things to happen where I didn’t believe there was a God because I’m a little bitty child and so much has happened to me.” However, she didn’t let those experiences embitter her. “So, I said OK God, I’m going to put the past behind me, I told the people who did me wrong that I forgave them for what they did…” That decision has led Wilson to a ministry in an unlikely place. Yet it seems many people have responded with genuine appreciation, echoing Dylan’s final words on her post, “God bless you Ms. Brenda, thank you.”