Divine Appointments.

Every Thursday morning starts with a phone call at 9 a.m. with my support coach and every conversation begins with the same question, "How are things going Laura?" Most weeks have had a pretty similar response. "Well...okay. Not much has happened this week. Support is going pretty slowly." I usually have a few conversations I can tell him about and he'll be encouraging and say that I'm doing great. Inside though, I still feel like I'm falling short and have a difficult time seeing the highlights of the week. Well, this week was completely different. I was anxiously awaiting Phil's phone call and couldn't believe a week I was excited to talk with him, he would dare call me 10 minutes late! He called, I answered, let him ask his question, and then was so excited to share with him what happened this week...

Two weeks ago I went to a doctor's appointment and they told me I needed to do a follow-up appointment for some medicine I take, so I quickly scheduled an appointment for this past Tuesday before I leave town. I went to the appointment and of course the nurse asked me what I was doing next year. I responded with the same thing I say to everyone, "I'm interning with an organization called Campus Crusade for Christ." People usually say, "oh, great" and quickly change the conversation. This woman took me a little off-guard when she said she was familiar with CRU. We began talking and rather quickly realized we were both Christians. I shared my story with her and she shared a little bit of hers with me. Turns out her and her husband were previously on staff with another mission's organization and have gone through the process of raising support too. She could relate to what I am experiencing this summer. My test lasted an hour and fifteen minutes and we talked nearly the whole time. At the end she informed me that if I ever have the test done again, it usually doesn't take that long. She was just so engaged with the conversation that she was going slowly. She asked for a brochure and said that she wants to support me. She felt like the Lord brought us together. Okay...let me recap: A medicine I started taking four years ago brought me to a doctor's appointment two weeks ago where my doctor told me for the first time ever that I need to have a precautionary test done which brought me to a hospital for the first time in my life with a nurse that just happens to be a Christian who had experienced support raising and, without me asking, was moved by the Holy Spirit to join my team. I believe that is called a divine appointment arranged by the Lord. Even if something were to happen and she is not able to support me or if it was a five dollar bill that came in the mail, I still know God used that in my summer to encourage me. I was craving being in the presence of a Christian and someone who could relate to the experience I'm going through. God answered that prayer in such a unique and encouraging way.

After I told Phil that neat story, I surprised by self by still having a list of other things to tell him. I got two more supporters in the past week, one of which I was not expecting or even thinking to contact. I also got two really encouraging messages from friends willing to go above and beyond to help me. And to top it all off, I had a wonderful appointment where I was able to share about CRU and my story but also hear how God was working in this woman's life and moving her to want to share her faith with others too. When I asked her if she would like to partner with me, she said yes and that she had been praying about a way to get involved with sharing the gospel somehow. I was an answer to that prayer for her! Isn't it neat that God had gone ahead of me and prepared someone's heart to hear my story?

Phil graciously listened to my excitement and once again was very encouraging. We finished up our conversation, got off the phone, and I sat on the couch still overwhelmed by the way God worked this past way. I know there are a lot of different reasons to have a coach talk to me once a week but I think I realized how grateful I am that it forces me to look back and recall what God is doing. Obviously my appointment on tuesday was hard to not see the Lord's hand but when I put it all together, everything that happend this week was by His strength and doing--not my own. The second thing I noticed was that for the first time in weeks, I wasn't concerned about what percentage of my support has come in. I still have a loooooong ways to go but I'm just so in awe of God's working that I'm not as phased by it and I think that is how it should be. Not just in this time of support raising, but through all of life. What if I was just so constantly in awe of the Lord that all the things that get me down were of no importance? I think I understand a little more of what it means to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us,² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." (Hebrews 12:1-2)