Miami or Bust…A “God-incidence?”

In November of 2014, I found out I was pregnant with our sixth child. This was a turning point in our family that required us to make some upgrades and changes in our life. We had to bunk three boys into one room, buy a longer dining room table, replace some of the baby gear that we had been using since our first baby 11 years ago, and we had to give up our beloved minivan that would no longer fit our whole family (sniff, sniff).

Shortly after I found out I was pregnant in November, the Lord put it on my heart to give our minivan to my parents down in Florida. At that time, I had no idea what God was orchestrating. When I called my mom to tell her our plans, I heard silence on the other line. She was completely overwhelmed with joy because her prayer was answered and it was quite a specific request to have a “car roll into her driveway!” MIAMI OR BUST!

But wait…there is more to the story. As if that wasn’t enough answered prayer, God showed his faithfulness right down to the last second…and I mean literally the last second…

So, fast forward to this past Monday morning. I received a call from my dad that the shipping company was on their way. That would have been great news for me if the minivan had a working battery! I panicked! What???? I have six kids at home and even IF I can get a battery I had no idea how to install it. And even if I knew how to install it, I would not get to and from the store with six kids and install a battery in ONE HOUR! Not ONE DAY, or ONE WEEK…no…ONE HOUR! Yup…one hour (are you picking up on my panic?)

Ok…now this is me under pressure …Panic … Panic.. PANIC… BREATHE… BREATHE.. BREATHEEEE!!! Ahh..ok..now PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!!! Fortunately, a God-incidence of course, my mother-in-law was visiting from South Dakota and she was hugging me good-bye when I got the call. I waved her down and told her I needed a battery installed. Off she went to pick up my brother-in-law to pick up a battery.

My brother-in-law lives 20 minutes away. Right away that is 40 minutes off the clock just driving to and from my house. Now time is ticking and fast! Isn’t it funny how time flies when you want it to slow down and how time seems to go by slowly when want it to go fast (like when you are sitting in a waiting room or waiting for test results?) So, I’m starting to panic again. How in the world will this come together?  I stopped, prayed and put it in God’s hands. I asked God to stall the driver as much as possible to buy us some time.

So 55 minutes into the hour, my brother-in-law shows up with a battery (that he purchased with a coupon to boot!). Yahoo! But that is not the “happy ending” of the story. You see, the van had been sitting for almost a year and the battery was corroded. It would not come out. Suddenly, we hear the truck coming up the hill. Uh oh. All of us are standing outside watching my brother-in-law calmly pull and twist and spray and pull. The battery would not budge. Fortunately, the truck driver “accidentally” passed our house and had to go all the way up to the top of the hill, turn around, and come back. Whew…okay that bought us a little more time. Thank you Jesus!

When the driver came back around, the battery had still not released. Yikes! As he assessed the van and went over the paperwork with me, my brother-in-law continued to put some elbow grease into pulling that battery out. I was praying. As I signed the paperwork, my brother-in-law finally got the battery loose and quickly put the new one in. YES! I took a deep breath. “Ok, now one more thing Lord…PLEASE let the van start!” Here we go…click…and the van started right up. It was music to my ears as I made a JOYfull noise: “Praise You Jesus!”

My sister-in-law, my brother-in-law, my mother-in-law, my six children and I gathered around as the driver loaded up our beloved van into the truck. We reminisced about the many places our van had lived. This van has been in our family for many years. You see, we bought our beloved minivan from my in-laws after our second baby was born. They drove it from S. Dakota over to us in Michigan. And now our little minivan will be sporting a “Miami Suntan” and building new memories with my parents in Florida.

MIAMI OR BUST!

For more of God’s faithfulness, I just thought I would add that my brother-in-law hasn’t had a Monday off since December! So it was a God-incidence that he happened to be off on the Monday morning I needed an answer to prayer!  I am so thankful to my in-laws who were willing to take time out of their plans to help us. God is faithful.

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:9

Some may think this sequence of events is all a coincidence, but I beg to differ. I am a child of an amazing God who cares about every detail of my life and He cares about your life too. My stories and your stories may not always have happy endings, but He is ALWAYS with you every step of the way. We just have to be willing to see His hand in the midst of our joyful times and sorrowful times. Our stories are just a small piece of the bigger puzzle pieced together by our Master. We may never understand why things happen, but God does. The next time you think a sequence of events is a coincidence, remember – God is in control! If it lines up with His Word and His plans, I would call it a “God-incidence.” 

Let’s Talk

Do you recall a time when God called you to do something for Him and you found out later it was a piece of a bigger plan in God’s book? Do you have any stories of a sequence of coincidental events in your life that after looking back on it you see that God’s hand was over it all? Do you a “God-incidence” story you want to share to encourage others in their walk with the Lord?