God can work in amazing ways - here are a few things that we experienced during the past few days. (1) I took our car for inspection and while the car passed they told me that I needed four new tires before winter - $500! I refused their "offer" because I had just had them checked a month earlier. But right after a 400 mile trip we found that we had picked up a screw in a front tire so I went to a tire dealer that I trust. He told me that my tires would last another year, but because there was some early cracking and they were guaranteed, they could replace them for $240, including alignment. I accepted and replaced all four not realizing all the driving we would do, in snowy icy weather, the following week when Dianne's dad died. How much safer we felt. PTL!
(2) We needed to find a motel in the Sunbury area and at our third stop we met a manager who had been a neighbor of Dianne's dad several years ago. And while we didn't know her, because of his death, she gave us a bargain price for the three nights that we stayed there. PTL!
(3) When we heard that Dianne's dad's condition was terminal, we were concerned that because of the holiday the church would not be available. We also knew that the pastor would be away on vacation for the week. But God's timing was perfect and we were able to bury him on Saturday morning before Christmas week. PTL!
(4) When we received the call about her dad's death at 1 in the morning, I was concerned because they were predicting sleet and freezing rain. So we decided to leave for Sunbury early in the morning and we drove through sleet for an hour until suddenly, above Harrisburg, the weather cleared. We were able to do all the funeral planning that day in clear weather, while back home they had slick roads. PTL!
PTL! (5) The week of his death we experienced a series of winter storms. They had predicted six inches or more of snow in Sunbury on Friday before the Saturday funeral. But the snow turned to rain late Friday afternoon allowing our children to safely make the trip. Saturday was clear and very cold and while we couldn't get into the cemetery because of the ice and snow, we were able to have the graveside ceremony from the church parking lot only about 40 yards from the grave. PTL!
(6) We were perplexed about how much food to purchase for the luncheon to be held after the service since we didn't know how the weather would affect the attendance. In fact we had planned not to eat if we had more people stay than we predicted. The cold icy weather did prevent many from coming and we had an adequate amount of food for all who stayed. PTL!
So were all of these situations just lucky coincidences or did the Lord intervene and answer many prayers, including those about the weather? You may have your own opinion, but I personally believe that the Lord does answer prayer and we had many folks on our prayer chain taking our concerns before the Lord.
I am reminded of a song that our family used to sing when we did programs as part of our family ministry.
He holds the future in the palm of His Hand,
And He has never failed me yet,
I know He's leading and still has control,
So why should I worry or fret.
I know He holds the future,
and I know He holds my hand,
I know just as sure as I'm singing this song,
I'm a part of His almighty plan.
I believe, I believe, I believe,
So why should I worry or fret."
Maybe I needed to repeat this blog for myself if for nobody else. As we face many new challenges it often becomes easy to forget how God has led and provided in the past. I daily need to get over the worry and fretting, because He really is in control.
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