Last year a brother in Christ, named Jim, called me from California. He is a Lt. Colonel in the air force reserves stationed at Beale AFB but full time. He is getting transferred to McGuire AFB which is about 20 minutes away from Tabernacle, NJ, in order to be a wing commander. I sent him information on real estate agents in the area. About a month later he emails me and asks if I went to Sunset. I emailed back and said yes. Then he asked if Steve Davis was best man at my wedding. I of course said yes, knowing that there was more to these questions. It turns out that Cindy Davis had remarried. Her husband and Jim were elders in Yuba City, CA. Cindy is his wife's best friend. Jim and his wife, Nancy, were really excited to find a friend of Cindy's out there in desolate New Jersey. I emailed Jim back and told him our situation, that we were moving to Florida. I haven't had time to find out whether or not Jim and Nancy got situated but I found Jim's email address and sent him a message. I haven't heard back just yet.
Last month here in Mount Dora, FL one of the elders told me that a fellow was moving up from Clermont (about 30 miles away). He had some foot or leg problem and was in a wheel chair. The congregation he was attending down there was of the type that didn't believe in helping benevolent needs out of the church treasury. Apparently their benevolent nature didn't extend much beyond their talking about it because this fellow didn't feel very welcome and he claims they didn't do much to help him in terms of giving him a ride to services.
David McCaig showed up (he wasn't in a wheel chair but on crutches) one Wednesday evening. The elder who had originally told me about him picked him up for services. He lives near another one of our members who also needs to be picked up. Anyway, after a couple of weeks, David and I found some time to really talk with each other. I thought he was a new Christian but he said no he was raised in the church even though his parents have since fallen away. I asked if he was a Florida native (some natives are called "crackers") but he said no he was from California. Mentioning California always gets my attention. So I asked where. He said up north (people are usually vague about things like this because they assume that most people won't know the name of the town in which they lived). I asked specifically and he said Livermore. I said I knew a preacher at Livermore, Don Downey (actually it's Ron, Don is his father). He said he didn't know a Don but did know a Ron. Well, we got to talking further and low and behold he knew Steve Davis! Steve was a counselor at a summer camp where David attended. Couldn't believe it (well actually I could because this sort of thing happens all the time).
I know some of you are waiting for the big - there were hundreds of baptisms kind of ending to this story. Actually the story isn't over. I don't know why David is here in Mount Dora and if the connection we have to Steve is even relevant to our current situation. This is just another quiet chapter in God's mysterious ways. There are a lot of questions about this story I have that I hope God will answer when we get heaven.
1. Why didn't Steve get to go to Liberia with the Crons and Littlejohns? (maybe his family didn't need to be there or maybe one them needed to be here for some task that God had for them)
2. Why did Jim and Nancy make contact with us just as we were leaving?
3. Why is David here? (This one may be answered some day soon)
God's providence surprises us all the time. Sometimes we are in the right place at the right time. Sometimes all our plans fall into place. Sometimes the signs are there but nothing (or at least nothing that we can actually see) ever comes of it. Through it all I know that God is in charge. That is what faith is all about - trusting that God is in charge and holding on to him whether or not plans fall into place. I may never get the answers to my questions while we are here under the sun, but God's light is still shining in my life and my family's life.
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14 comments:
Beautiful story - both parts. This has always been a special pleasure of mine in the church - wherever you go, you are bound to meet someone either that you have known before, or who knows someone you know. Of course, in heaven it will be like that all the time. What a glorious reunion that will be. Jeanne
God is so good to His own. I know you and Pat were great blessings to Steve and Cindy just as they were to you.
Peace and prayers, my brother
Neva
I love your story. I love to see the ways God unfolds a great mystery before our eyes. (This reminds me of meeting Nathan's classmate's parents who were from the same part of NJ that we were. I think that story will unfold in cool ways for us soon, too)
Isn't it funny how you will think about someone you haven't thought about in years and then you run into them or they call?
Very nice story. It's great when we find ourselves in the middle of a story God is telling. I'll admit I got a little lost reading these two posts, but they were great.
God's providence always amazes me. Sometimes it I even get "Holy goosebumps" :)
Lisa - I hope your connection to Nathan's classmate's family bears good fruit.
Paula - did you grow up watching Batman with Adam West and was Robin your hero? Holy Role Model!
I can see what Adam's saying about trying to keep up with your story. I might have had a hard time too had I not already heard most of this at least a dozen times. ;)
Adam & Lisa - I tried to add some extra details in order to get a fuller story. However, there were lots of details I wanted to include but didn't. Perhaps if I was a trained story teller it might have come out different. We all have great stories and I'm glad ya'll took the time to read one of mine.
I didn't mean for my comment to sound critical (I'm sure Adam didn't either). I'm obviously not an accomplished story-teller either. I think it would be hard to tell that story without all those details, even if it gets slightly confusing. It's also hard when you're editing your own story, to pretend like you don't already know the story, as your audience would be reading it. I think you did a good job, and I love your story. I have enjoyed reading other people's stories on their blogs, especially by those I haven't known very long. I've been considering telling some of my story (though it's certainly not very fascinating).
Whether I get every detail or not, the gist came through loud and clear. I wasn't being critical at all.
Lisa & Adam - I didn't think that either of you were being critical of the details of my post. Your comments were never taken in that light. However, I did recently read a little something about storytelling and your comments caused me to reflect on my ability to tell a story. I usually tell my stories without detailed thought as to how to structure the story properly. I tend to plow ahead. Thanks for reading and thanks for letting me know that my point got through.
I just barely remember the old Batman series. I do remember having a huge crush on Adam West though :)
"Holy Goosebumps" comes from brother Charles Hodge. I got a kick out of him talking about people expecting these.
I love that! "Holy goosebumps." What a great phrase.
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