Have I Ever Told You...

Have I ever told you this story? As you may know, we set up this blog partly as a way for friends and family to keep up with us while we were attending Dallas Seminary, and partly so that we could share some of the amazing things God is doing for us and through us. I've shared a few of those things, such as how God has come in at just the right time to sustain us (here and here), or how all four years of our tuition was paid by God and how we are graduating without any student loan debt (here). But there's a story I didn't tell, and I perhaps should have. We've generally tried to avoid singling people out on our blog, but this story is too cool and too bizarre not to share.

We met a Catholic priest (who happens to live in Europe) through a family member. He came here to Dallas to visit, and when he found out we were in seminary, he was very excited. Even though he is Catholic, he's always had a soft spot for Protestants. It seems that his father was a Baptist. Our priest friend grew up in the war, and one fateful day his father was getting on a bus. He stopped to let a woman on to the bus ahead of him, and in that moment, German war planes strafed the street where he was standing and he was shot and killed. Thus, he was raised Catholic, because of his mother, but never lost his admiration for Protestants.

Well, having struggled through seminary himself, he wanted to do something nice to support us. As he was about to retire, one of his parishioners gave him a generous gift. She gave him a retirement home and a bit of money. He told us about this gift and that he wanted to share a bit with us. We were flattered, and were thinking he might be really generous and give us a few hundred dollars. Apparently his parishioner was incredible generous, because he ended up giving us several thousand dollars. Praise God.

As I reflect on this story, I think it is amazing all of the little details that worked together. One moment in getting on a bus that changed lives forever, one woman who wanted to reward a priest for years of faithful service, one priest who saw a family with needs to whom he could relate. And generosity like that which has allowed our family to minister well to others, setting off a whole new chain of events that God is using to draw people to Himself.

Where are you in the story? Is there an action God is calling you? Is there a response God is seeking from you? Or do you have a story of your own that deserves sharing? What better forum than this?