A story of how the Lord BLEW ME AWAY.

WARNING:  LONG post ahead

Trying to gather my thoughts on how the Lord amazed me and left me speechless many times over yesterday.

Okay, I have some friends, a couple, who are non-believers.  They live a typical life of work, family, more work, fighting, and work... but without the benefit of God.  With the wife (we'll call her Jane) we've built a pretty good relationship over the years and I've even been able to go through the "Bill Fay Questions" with her and it was really interesting.  I've talked to her about what I believe about who Jesus is and what He's done, but she's just pleasantly nodded and went on her way.  So I feel very comfortable with continuing our relationship and seeing what God does with it.

With her husband (we'll call him John), I haven't gone this far.  Or even tried really.  Most of my interaction with him has been brief.  Good, but brief.  And that was fine.  He has social anxiety and has a hard time even coming into our (or anyone else's) home for very long.  Both of them are very nice people, and I really care for them, but honestly, I don't go out of my way to spend time with them like I should.  And I completely trust both of them.  They are hardworking and very honest people.

So anyway, that brings us to yesterday morning.

At 6:10ish in the morning, there was a knock on my door.  Ya, I know. Six A.M.  All of my boys were still in bed... all I could think, as I went to answer the door was that someone had died.

I was shocked to see it was John.

I opened the door (with no makeup and awful bed head) and he asked me if Jane was here.  Deathly scared and serious.

I asked him in and two steps in our house he started breaking down and crying.  He told me between sobs that they had gotten into an argument, she left, he had been driving all night to find her, and he couldn't.  He was having a break down and left a note for his two girls (teen and younger).

I. was. shocked/scared/worried/panicked...

I asked him what kind of note.  

He answered what I thought... a suicide note.

HOLY. MOLEY.  WHAT do I do now?!?

So I called a good friend, that early, who gave me the advice to get him to a hospital.  So I woke up the boys, as John was on the couch shivering and an emotional wreck, and told them they were going to have to get themselves up and going.  I called my wonderful mother in law who lives down the street and asked her if she could drive the boys to school, and we headed to the hospital.  John was admitted, evaluated, and released with a prescription that we got on the way home.  Jane ended up coming back and they talked and have a lot of work to do, but both are willing to work on it and get counseling (I offered our church's counseling center, but don't know if they'll go that route).

BUT NOW, 

here's how God blew me away in all this.  

You needed the backstory to know what was going on, but GET. THIS.

All this happend on Wednesday this week. Wednesday was also the day we planned to do a HUGE party for AWANA that happens twice a year.  The party requires a lot of shopping at a couple different stores that I have a typical system of doing.  My NORMAL way is to drop the boys off at school on Wednesday, go to one store, then to Costco, then have a Costco lunch, then drive it all to the church when I pick my boys up. 

Well, for whatever reason (I know now it was God) I had a very huge open window of time on Sunday, and did it then, driving it back to the church on Sunday and storing it all there.  That. has. NEVER. happened before.

That was GOD THING #1.

Then, on Tuesday, I happened to get an email from the library saying the 20,000 books we had checked out were all due THAT DAY.  I didn't check email earlier in the day, so at about 7pm we all loaded into the van to take back the TON of books we had.  

Normally, I would have renewed them online, but there was seriously close to 50 books, and I didn't want to go through all and try to renew and then have some not renew and be late, etc etc.  So I told the boys we would go to the library and then get ice cream afterwards.  God wanted me to drive THAT NIGHT so I would notice the gas tank was almost on empty.

The light hadn't come on yet, so when I started the van, I thought "oh, we need gas" but then thought that I'll just do it tomorrow, after I drop the boys off.  But when we got to the road, for whatever reason (God), I turned left instead of right and found myself at the gas station without even really realizing it.  AND, I happened to have the extra envelope, for gas emergencies and oil changes in my wallet.  I forget why I put it in there a week or so ago (other than God)!

GOD THING #2

Then, we come to the morning of the 6am knock on the door.  This God Thing blows me away maybe more than any of the others.  I had gotten up a little late that morning, but still put on my skaggy workout clothes (holey tshirt and paint splattered yoga pants) and came out to do my walking DVD.  It is only about 15 min or so and every morning, the hardest part of doing it is putting it in the DVD player and starting it.  Once I'm over that hurdle, I'm fine.  Well, today, I put it in, started the warm up walk, and after about 2-3 min or so, I reached up and shut it off, thinking "I don't want to do this".

SHUT. IT. OFF.

I have NEVER in my LIFE shut it off.

THEN.....

Then, I went directly to my room and got dressed.  Didn't sit on the couch, didn't check email or facebook... went right to my room and got dressed.  Unheard of.

But it was God, getting me ready to help a friend.

GOD THING #3.

Then, after everything was done, and I was home later that day I called my mom in law to thank her for taking the boys and being there and  she told me that when I called, it was JUST as she was walking out the door.  And if I hadn't called right at that moment, she would have been gone AND she said normally she IS gone by then, but for whatever reason (GOD!) she was havin a slower than usual day, and was still there to get my call.

GOD THING #4.

Wow.

God was not only preparing me for receiving and helping John and Jane, but he was also caring for me.  He knew if I hadn't gone to the store on Sunday, I wouldn't have had the time that day to stay with John at the hospital, to talk to either of them that night, and would have been stressed, mad, worried, etc etc all day and not have been able to give the AWANA kids the party we promised.

He also worked by having me check out the zillions of books three weeks earlier, so I would have to return them.  And timed it just right so that night would also be a night of turning LEFT instead of RIGHT to the gas station.  

God was IN MY HEAD!

Then, he kept my mother in law there at her house that morning, even though she wanted to leave earlier.  Just slowed her down enough to make her available to serve us, which served John, which served God.  (I love her!)

THEN, God had the ability to get IN MY HEAD and shut off that DVD workout.  And let me tell you this. I know FOR. A. FACT. that if I hadn't shut that DVD off, and he would have knocked on my door while I was sweaty and in my gross clothes, I would NOT have answered.

So God cared for me, by knowing I would be WAY uncomfortable and prepared me to be able to focus on someone else, rather than on how I looked or felt.

WOW.

Just WOW.

Why does it surprise me when God does supernatural things?

He is God.

He is Good.

He cares for me.

AND

He. Is. Able.