Psalm 113:4-6
…4The LORD is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens. 5Who is like the LORD our God, Who is enthroned on high, 6Who humbles Himself to behold The things that are in heaven and in the earth?…
I wake up each morning with butterflies of excitement in my stomach. What's He going to do today? I'm so thrilled to watch God at work!
It dawned on me the other day that I should be journaling each day's amazing happenings - the fingerprints of God which astound the living daylights out of me!
I am going to do my best to detail the path so far...
1987: Dave and his brother, Jim, are attending a church of their choice - a evangelical Lutheran church close to their home in Plymouth, MN. Dave was a late teen at the time. The church hosted a ministry aimed at teens; a ministry run by two brothers, Dan and Steve Peters. This ministry, The Truth About Rock (Why Knock Rock?), made a lot of teens at that time very angry, because it exposed the truth about the lives of the rock musicians of the time period. Dave bought one of their books and read it, applying the truths to his life. The Peters brothers made an impact on his life.
1998: Fargo North Dakota. Dave was at an Applebee's with a friend. He looked up and noticed a man who looked very familiar for some reason. After staring at this man for some time, it registered in his brain where he'd seen him, and the last name, Peters, popped into his head. Dave went over and reintroduced himself to Steve Peters. Then he came home and told me about it.
Feb. 2014: Dave was working a day that he wasn't scheduled. As a lead on the custodial team at Crown Christian college, he was sometimes asked to work part of a Saturday during an event. This particular day was a basketball game. As he pushed his supply cart along the hall, Dave looked up and noticed a tall man standing further down the hall. The man looked familiar. Again, Dave's brain went into overdrive searching for a name to go with the familiar face. Peters. That was the last name. Dave went up to the tall man and introduced himself again. This time, he told the man that this was the third time in the last 27 years that he had run into him. The man smiled and handed Dave his card. Maybe, he suggested, this isn't a coincidence. Maybe this is a God thing? Dave looked at the name on the card, Steve Peters. Dave came home that day and told me about it. He knew I completely get the God-things that happen in our lives. We stared at each other. The Peters man had asked Dave to call him. He wanted to talk to Dave about a business opportunity. God had blessed Steve and Dan, and their wives, Julie and Renae, abundantly. They now all spent their lives helping as many people as they could to live healthier lives and get/stay out of debt. Steve wanted to know if we wanted to work with them. We started praying for direction. We decided to look into it.
May 10, 2014: It was a Saturday morning. I arrived at the Peters' office for business training. As I walked in the door, Steve was standing nearby, talking to another tall man. Steve called me over to introduce me to his brother Dan. As the business meeting commenced, Dan stood at the front of the room and talked about how God had used this company to bless his family. It had enabled him to fulfill his dream of owning a nonprofit organization that owns radio stations here in Minnesota and in Africa. (My ears pricked up. Africa. It had been less than 24 hours earlier that I had spoken to a teary-eyed daughter about how if God wanted her to go to Africa, He would provide the way, the resources, and the opportunity. She had insisted that God had been pulling her for several years. Pulling her. Pulling her. She HAD to go!) I sat there and listened to Dan talk about how his work in Africa was so important and how he needed help. Would anyone be willing to go with him? During the break, I made a beeline toward him. He probably thought I was crazy as I poured out my heart about my daughter and her love for missions and for Africa in particular. We sat down together, as I gave him her contact information. He sent her a text right then and there, inviting her to go to Africa with him - two months from then. I sobbed all the way home. I had taught my daughter to trust in the Lord with her whole heart and lean not on her own understanding, and He would direct her path. He was true to His word. He IS true to His word.
I thought about the painful experience that I had been enduring for the last six weeks. (I had come to the place of knowing that my time of writing my history and math series had come to an abrupt end. Painful as it was, God had shown me that He Himself was removing it from me. That, yes, it was excruciating at the moment, very much like surviving an amputation in some ways, but I would understand soon, if I would trust Him. He was opening a new door. A new opportunity was opening up in front of me that I may not see right at the moment, but if I would trust Him and be still in His hands, He would show me.) On that morning in May, I had no idea what God had in store for me personally. For my family. I had no idea what the next few months would hold. I knew that He was granting the desire of my daughter's heart. I had no idea how big this was going to be. He had heard my heart's cry for a bigger life. He knew that I had learned to trust Him enough to step into the what human mind would think was impossible. He knew I was ready to "brave the uncomfortable" like the OBB song says. He knew that I wanted to exercise that kind of faith.
…4The LORD is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens. 5Who is like the LORD our God, Who is enthroned on high, 6Who humbles Himself to behold The things that are in heaven and in the earth?…
I wake up each morning with butterflies of excitement in my stomach. What's He going to do today? I'm so thrilled to watch God at work!
It dawned on me the other day that I should be journaling each day's amazing happenings - the fingerprints of God which astound the living daylights out of me!
I am going to do my best to detail the path so far...
1987: Dave and his brother, Jim, are attending a church of their choice - a evangelical Lutheran church close to their home in Plymouth, MN. Dave was a late teen at the time. The church hosted a ministry aimed at teens; a ministry run by two brothers, Dan and Steve Peters. This ministry, The Truth About Rock (Why Knock Rock?), made a lot of teens at that time very angry, because it exposed the truth about the lives of the rock musicians of the time period. Dave bought one of their books and read it, applying the truths to his life. The Peters brothers made an impact on his life.
1998: Fargo North Dakota. Dave was at an Applebee's with a friend. He looked up and noticed a man who looked very familiar for some reason. After staring at this man for some time, it registered in his brain where he'd seen him, and the last name, Peters, popped into his head. Dave went over and reintroduced himself to Steve Peters. Then he came home and told me about it.
Feb. 2014: Dave was working a day that he wasn't scheduled. As a lead on the custodial team at Crown Christian college, he was sometimes asked to work part of a Saturday during an event. This particular day was a basketball game. As he pushed his supply cart along the hall, Dave looked up and noticed a tall man standing further down the hall. The man looked familiar. Again, Dave's brain went into overdrive searching for a name to go with the familiar face. Peters. That was the last name. Dave went up to the tall man and introduced himself again. This time, he told the man that this was the third time in the last 27 years that he had run into him. The man smiled and handed Dave his card. Maybe, he suggested, this isn't a coincidence. Maybe this is a God thing? Dave looked at the name on the card, Steve Peters. Dave came home that day and told me about it. He knew I completely get the God-things that happen in our lives. We stared at each other. The Peters man had asked Dave to call him. He wanted to talk to Dave about a business opportunity. God had blessed Steve and Dan, and their wives, Julie and Renae, abundantly. They now all spent their lives helping as many people as they could to live healthier lives and get/stay out of debt. Steve wanted to know if we wanted to work with them. We started praying for direction. We decided to look into it.
May 10, 2014: It was a Saturday morning. I arrived at the Peters' office for business training. As I walked in the door, Steve was standing nearby, talking to another tall man. Steve called me over to introduce me to his brother Dan. As the business meeting commenced, Dan stood at the front of the room and talked about how God had used this company to bless his family. It had enabled him to fulfill his dream of owning a nonprofit organization that owns radio stations here in Minnesota and in Africa. (My ears pricked up. Africa. It had been less than 24 hours earlier that I had spoken to a teary-eyed daughter about how if God wanted her to go to Africa, He would provide the way, the resources, and the opportunity. She had insisted that God had been pulling her for several years. Pulling her. Pulling her. She HAD to go!) I sat there and listened to Dan talk about how his work in Africa was so important and how he needed help. Would anyone be willing to go with him? During the break, I made a beeline toward him. He probably thought I was crazy as I poured out my heart about my daughter and her love for missions and for Africa in particular. We sat down together, as I gave him her contact information. He sent her a text right then and there, inviting her to go to Africa with him - two months from then. I sobbed all the way home. I had taught my daughter to trust in the Lord with her whole heart and lean not on her own understanding, and He would direct her path. He was true to His word. He IS true to His word.
I thought about the painful experience that I had been enduring for the last six weeks. (I had come to the place of knowing that my time of writing my history and math series had come to an abrupt end. Painful as it was, God had shown me that He Himself was removing it from me. That, yes, it was excruciating at the moment, very much like surviving an amputation in some ways, but I would understand soon, if I would trust Him. He was opening a new door. A new opportunity was opening up in front of me that I may not see right at the moment, but if I would trust Him and be still in His hands, He would show me.) On that morning in May, I had no idea what God had in store for me personally. For my family. I had no idea what the next few months would hold. I knew that He was granting the desire of my daughter's heart. I had no idea how big this was going to be. He had heard my heart's cry for a bigger life. He knew that I had learned to trust Him enough to step into the what human mind would think was impossible. He knew I was ready to "brave the uncomfortable" like the OBB song says. He knew that I wanted to exercise that kind of faith.