God writes beautiful stories. . .Moses, Martha, Me

" I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.

Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God?"
~ Psalm 77:11-13

God writes the most beautiful stories, using us as the main characters and supporting cast.  A good novelist will be strategic and deliberate in his or her character development for a story, because after all, without it the plot will not make any sense. In my last 5 weeks here in New Zealand, I have seen God busy developing characters in his grand story of redeeming the world.  Praise the Lord with me as I share a bit:

* Moses: You may remember reading about Moses, an older Maori man who was recently baptized. God rescued him from a violent childhood and from repeating the same cycle again his later years.  He told us the miraculous story of how just weeks after coming to know Jesus, Moses prayed humbly and simply for the supply of some of his most basic needs, one of which was transportation.  After sharing his requests with his church (with no intention of  trying to "get" from anyone there), someone fixed up an old 80s car, showed up and gave Moses the keys right out of the blue!  And it has better fuel economy than any of the newer vehicles!

* Martha:  Martha is a new friend of mine who is growing by leaps and bounds since coming into relationship with Christ.  She has quite a history, but the Lord is giving her new hope and new life now, undefined by the turmoil and darkness of her past!  She is now faithful at church, always offers a helping hand, and has recently gained boldness to reach out to family members with whom relationship had previously been severed.  She is eating up books on prayer and Bible study and eager dive into real life with Christ.  Well, she isn't just eager to dive in, she is IN it now! Thank the Lord!

* Me: I love to journal each day.  Sometimes entries are thoughts and prayers that come from deep in the recesses of my heart while others are mere ramblings about what happened throughout the day.  Yesterday I was reading back through an old journal and once again amazed with God's faithfulness in answering prayers.  Here are some of the "yes" answers he provided:

--  A place to live.  (Weeks after committing to come to NZ last winter, I began to pray for a place to live, preferably not by myself.  I had not yet told anyone about this specific request, but a week later I received an e-mail from Adrienne inviting me to board at her home!  Thanks, God!  Thanks, Adrienne!)

-- Medical Clearance:  I was burdened with paperwork and medical tests to be completed in order to apply for a work visa here.  The tests would cost nearly $2,000.  I had no such funds, nor insurance to cover those costs, so I asked the Lord, the One of has access to all resources, to provide.  And provide He did!  Dr. Gary Morsch and his team of doctors and technicians at Concentra Urgent Care provided all the medical work needed, for only $113, as a service to God and to me.  There you go again, God!

-- Work Visa arrival:  After months and months of paperwork to acquire a visa, teaching license and police clearance, it was just days before I was to depart for NZ and I had still not received my visa and passport in the mail.  . . .and then it arrived with a week to spare!

Many more stories like this exist, and had I more time and space, I would share them all.  Keep checking this blog for more stories of God's goodness and power.  Praise the Lord and open your eyes to see how He is busy doing character development around you and IN you!