No Coincidence

Originally when we began planning our North Carolina trip this last spring and summer, I did have ulterior motives for selecting October as the month for our meetings. After spending nine years in a part of the country that experiences very little autumn color, who wouldn't have? God had His own plans, however.

Thanks in large part to the planning and coordination of some good friends, we were able to get the four weeks filled. Those of you who received our updates know that Troy shared about our ministry in a different church each Sunday from October 1 - November 6! Throw in three Wednesday nights as well, and our schedule was full!

Within the first week or two of our arrival in Reidsville, it became clear that the timing of the trip was certainly not ours---it was God's. Our pastor friend had four busier-than-normal weeks at their church that kept him away from his family quite a bit. The timing of our visit meant that our friend had some other adult company at home with her while her husband needed to be away. The timing of our visit was not coincidental.

Perhaps the most amazing evidence that this was a divine appointment was in the opportunity to meet a young man who was interested in becoming a missionary. This young man's family was new to our friend's church--they'd only been attending a few weeks prior to our arrival after extensive church hunting. He was glancing through the church bulletin, reading the listing of missionaries the church supported and the organizations represented by each. At home, he took the time to look up online each of the missions organizations listed. One stood out to him more than the others---One Mission Society. Not long afterward, he realized that missionaries with this very organization were staying with his pastor and pastor's wife! He, Troy, and our pastor friend met over a meal. Within a couple weeks, he'd already begun the paperwork to become an OMS missionary! The timing of the family finding our friend's church and of our subsequent visit were not coincidental.

I may have initially selected this particular month so that I could enjoy some fall foliage. But God clearly had other plans. He had a divine appointment for us to keep, and it was His leading and direction that brought us to North Carolina in October and workout out all of the details so beautifully.