Am I allowed to claim a year long case of writer's block? (No - I didn't think so either). On the bright side, I doubt anyone's reading this anymore - the paparazzi have stopped chasing me down in Masiphumelele and the only person who chastised me for being AWOL was my sister. Terry - I hope you are happy :-) Anyway, I might as well pick up where I left off. Lately, during my prayer time, I've been looking back through my old Bible, which also served as a handy prayer journal with oceans of white margins to which I could lay claim. The advantage of writing down your prayers is that it's a testament of God's faithfulness; He remembers, even when you don't. Back in 2009, during the days when I was still going to the airport begging God to put me on a plane, I had coffee with a good friend who had lived in Israel many years earlier. Barbie was recounting how, on the day her (now) husband proposed marriage, she was wheeling a friend's newborn son around the kibbutz in a pram. After she said "yes" to Milton, she was so excited, that she ran off to announce the news to her friends, forgetting all about the baby - and leaving him - pram and all - in the middle of the kibbutz. Luckily, someone noticed the unattended baby and returned him to the baby house. What Barbie didn't know that day, was that that baby would one day grow up to marry her oldest daughter and be a wonderful father to 5 of her grandchildren. (It's a REALLY good thing someone found his pram!) In that moment, and without realizing what had occurred, her present had just intersected with her future. | Pondering that, I wrote in the margins of my Bible, "God - put me on a plane. Give me a destination to my destiny and let my past intersect with my future in supernatural ways". Then I promptly forgot that I had ever PRAYED that. Until yesterday. And it dawned on me - GOD ANSWERED THAT PRAYER. I am in South Africa, living life in Christ with the very couple that discipled me in the early days of my Christian journey, more than 20 years ago. Mike and Kalyn bore with my immaturity and my failure; they continually called forth "Christ in me - the hope of Glory" and didn't get too bent out of shape by the rest. None of us had any intention of going to Africa. Eventually, though we stayed in touch and remained friends, we went different directions. And now here we are - a little piece of Tulsa transplanted to Cape Town (though Mike and Kalyn beat me to it by a few years). My past and my future collided - and this is just a collision that I KNOW about. God is brilliant - and I'm pretty sure that when we look back at the whole picture some day, we will be amazed at how often and in how many supernatural ways, our past and our present collided to create our future. I want to have eyes to see His answers, and faith to believe in the "not yet seen". His word promises that He captures every tear in a bottle, and that he knows every word before it leaves our lips. He does not forget our prayers - even when we do. |
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AuthorJan O'C is - in no particular order: kind of geeky; a lover of mountains, good books, old movies, dogs (especially Moshe and Scout), Indian food and her family and friends; an adventurer; a teacher; an explorer; a lover of God - and more importantly, loved by Him! Archives
August 2013
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