Is Change Possible?

Have you ever prayed for someone in your life to change?  Maybe it’s a sister of yours that for many years you have hoped they would come to put their faith in Christ.  Perhaps it is a close friend that seems lost and incapable of being a little less selfish and a little more selfless in their attitude toward other people.  If you stop and think for a second…how many years have gone by while you’ve been hoping for this type of change to take place?  It has to make you think – will it ever?

First of all, I think that it is important to realize that these things that you see in their lives – the anger issues, the drinking habits, and the selfishness – are all responses to pain.  It is the pain that came from the massive hole carved out of our hearts when we fell away from our relationship with God and our sin prevented us from knowing God’s love like we once did.

I have a feeling that one of the most successful strategies for ministry in someone else’s life is to help them realize how much God loves them.  When I consider the fact that I’m still single, I appreciate that I’ve been able to learn how precious love is.  Without being able to find a substitute for true love in anything or any experience found on this planet, God’s love for me and the intensity of it reaches to my heart and I feel free.  Free from the expectations that I put on myself and free to liberate others from the expectations that I put on them.  If you need to see what I’m talking about, please check out my last post.

I’ll give you a head’s up though – the difficult part is going to be helping someone to realize how much they are loved and showing them it’s ok to let go and embrace it.  Many people check out on this responsibility by just saying “well, I’ve prayed about it, so now it’s in God’s hands to show them His love.”  Here’s the news flash: it was always in God’s hands and He wants to use you to show His love to those people! 

Lastly, don’t try scaring them into love with God…forced love is not love at all.  They’ll realize they have sin that is separating them from God when they realize the perfection of God’s love shown in His character and His grace.  Have the conversation about dealing with sin and their depravity after they realize who God is and they see His love is beyond anything they can gain in this world.  Realize that bringing them to a conviction over their sin and into repentance is what the Holy Spirit will be doing in their heart when they hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We, on the other hand, are made and called to love.

Still thinking about that parent or aunt or close friend?  Consider what you know about them and what might make them feel loved.  Does their short-comings make loving them a really difficult task?  If so, you may be a step closer to realizing, appreciating and embracing God’s perfect love for you.

I Love You More

This song has been a real encouragement to me recently. I try so hard at life at times and run as hard as I can toward my goals just to putter out and come to grips with a plain reality that hits me square in the chest: I can’t do it.  Doing it on our own was never part of God’s plan for our lives.  He’s there waiting…with a simple message that feels like the warm embrace of a parent when their child comes to them broken and overwhelmed with life. 

After I’ve worked so hard through the day to stay above water and I’m feeling so unworthy to serve God with my life, I sometimes just sit and let this song by Matthew West remind me of a certain reality.  Consider these lyrics:

West, Matthew. “More.”

Take a look at the mountains
Stretching a mile high
Take a look at the ocean
Far as your eye can see
And think of Me

Take a look at the desert
Do you feel like a grain of sand?
I am with you wherever
Where you go is where I am

And I’m always thinking of you
Take a look around you
I’m spelling it out one by one

(Chorus)
I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine, and you shine for me too
I love you yesterday and today
And tomorrow, I’ll say it again and again
I love you more

Just a face in the city
Just a tear on a crowded street
But you are one in a million
And you belong to Me

And I want you to know
That I’m not letting go
Even when you come undone

(Chorus)
I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine, and you shine for me too
I love you yesterday and today
And tomorrow, I’ll say it again and again
I love you more
I love you more

Shine for Me
Shine for Me
Shine on, shine on
Shine for Me

And I see you
And I made you
And I love you more than you can imagine
More than you can fathom
I love you more than the sun
And you shine for me

Happy.  Alfred Publishing Co., Inc, 2003

The Power of Story

 “Why does the Bible contain so many stories?  Is it possible that stories reveal some truths and experiences in a way that no other literary form does—and if so, what are they?  What is the difference in our picture of God when we read stories in which God acts, as compared with theological statements about the nature of God?  What does the Bible communicate through our imagination that it does not communicate through our reason?  If the Bible uses the imagination as one way of communicating truth, should we not show an identical confidence in the power of the imagination to convey religious truth?  If so, would a good starting point be to respect the story quality of the Bible in our exposition of it?” 

- Ryken, Leland, “The Bible: God’s Story-book,” Christianity Today, 1979, 23(23): 38.

“Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.”

- Matthew 13:34 (NIV)

75% of the Bible is written in the literary form of narrative.  There has got to be a reason that God chose to communicate His truth to us in this form.  What cues can we take from that as we then communicate the Gospel to others?

Consider this brief story:

Long ago, an eternal, timeless God created the Universe and everything in it.  It was good in God’s sight.  He then made a man named Adam to rule over the rest of all the birds, animals and everything that God created.  Although God designed Adam to live in close relationship to Him, Adam disobeyed God and for the first time, evil and death entered the world.  From Adam, sin spread to all his children and eventually to all the earth.  For many years, man was unable to be reunited with God because of his sin.  Although He loved man, God’s righteousness demanded that man experience death as a result of his sin.  Because of his sin, man would forever be separated from God. 

One day, roughly two-thousand years ago, God did something to express His love for the world and all of mankind.  He sent His Son down to the earth to live amongst man and teach them about their relationship with God.  His Son, named Jesus, lived on the earth for about 33 years and never committed one sin.  Although He lived a perfect life, God chose to punish Him for the rest of the world’s sin.  Jesus hung on a cross, a terribly cruel way to suffer, and experienced God’s wrath as He took on the world’s punishment for every sin they had committed and would commit in the future.  He died on that cross and was buried.

Three days after His death, God raised Jesus from the dead and He walked on the earth again.  After He was taken up to be with His Father in heaven, He sent His Spirit to dwell in those who put their faith in Him and His payment for their sins.  He promised that those who believe in Him will no longer be separated from God, but will be reunited and will experience life forever with God.   We now can live in this same hope if we believe in Him.

__________________________

Ok…that was 329 words.  First try, not bad.  Now it’s your turn.  How would you tell the story that changed your life for eternity? 

If you’re not sure that you could tell this story or that you will one day live with God and be united with Him because of what Jesus Christ did for you, please contact me @ agryckiewicz13@hotmail.com so we can discuss the power of a story that will change your life forever.

Best Wishes to Everyone,

Tony Gryckiewicz

Visionary Leadership: All Gain and No Pain?

What does leadership look like to you?

Try to consider for a moment what image comes to mind when you think of the word ‘leadership’.

For most of us, a particular person might come to mind, perhaps a heroic character from a war movie or a favorite president from our country’s history. We sometimes think of a charismatic politician or the leader of some large movement. The individual might be loud, boisterous and has a ‘larger than life’ presence about them when they speak. They demand everyone’s attention around them and can move the hearts of thousands to follow their vision.  While this is certainly not the only type of leader who is effective, they can be the types to gain their following quickly. 

Coming to Dallas, one of the beautiful things about this area is the vast number of churches there are. The more churches you visit here, the more opportunities you get to watch and see how a particular man decides to lead his people and what qualities truly make up his leadership. Unfortunately, what I’m observing at times is that the qualities considered worthwhile for a leader to possess in some instances have only to do with an ability to speak and keep the attention of a crowd.  The reason I noticed this is because I actually visited a church today where I was pleasantly intrigued by the pastor due to refreshing quality of the wisdom he expressed in the choice of his words rather than the quantity of them.

On the application for admission to Dallas Seminary, there was a section in which I was to write an essay describing my thoughts on good leadership. In my response, I mentioned that everything about effective leadership over the long haul, from its characteristics, temperament and virtues, could be boiled down to two defining qualities.  To me, I always observed good leaders as having a mindset of self-sacrificial service to those around them and a vision driven by a greater purpose.  Although I see a lot of vision from many men and women in the church, its the burden of service that seems to only embody the lives of select leaders from time to time.  This is unfortunate when you consider the model that God Himself gave us for true leadership. 

Consider for a second this picture:

The man kneeling in the position of a servant is the God of the Universe.  This sculpture is an artist’s adaptation of the passage in John 13:1-17 where Jesus washes His disciple’s feet and gives them an example of what type of leader they are supposed to be.

Jesus spoke softly, yet the weight of His words have moved the hearts and minds of men and women throughout history. He conveyed the mysteries of God in lessons spoken by story while he fed the hungry and healed the sick. He committed Himself to the service of His people and never did anything that wasn’t according to His Father’s will. His Father blessed His leadership and because of that God was glorified by all of what Jesus came to do (John 12:28).

You have to ask yourself: Do the leaders in your life remind you of Christ?  Is there plenty on the surface, yet much lacking in their heart?  Would you say they reflect what Christ showed His disciples about leadership in the picture above?

I’d love to hear who in your life has been an example of a great leader to you and why. What were the defining qualities of that person that gained your respect and admiration? Please post your comments for everyone to see by clicking here.  Scroll to the bottom of the page to submit your thoughts.

I’m looking forward to continuing this journey with all of you.  Thanks for reading!

Best Regards,

Tony

Significance – Part 2

Significance, Part 2

This past Sunday, I wrote a post talking a little about the concept of significance and what it can look like when our admiration of someone who has been blessed by God begins to take root in our minds and starts pulling at our own desire to feel significant.  In most careers paths, unchecked admiration for others can become a motivator for the development of ambition in one’s heart.   Although the world tends to praise an ambitious spirit and Capitalism rewards it, ambition in the life of God’s servant really tends to do nothing other than destroy an otherwise proper vessel for God’s redeeming and self-glorifying work.

Consider this passage from the book of Philippians:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature of a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!  Philippians 2:4-8 (NIV)

A while back, we used to see people wearing bracelets that said W.W.J.D.?  The acronym stands for ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ and for a time (before they just became a fad) they would actually cause people to reflect on the model Jesus gave us for living the Christian life.  While many teens would wear the bracelet and maybe make a second decision concerning alcohol or drugs, I think the idea could help a lot of people identify what they’re meant to do with their life as well.  To use Christ’s life as a focal point might also provide some great direction in a world that tends to pull people in hundreds of directions as they search for answers.

Christ’s model was one of service.  He served His Father’s will (see Luke 22:42) and He served everyone around Him (see John 13:1-17).  I’ll admit this isn’t easy to grasp and live out when you grow up utilizing an economic system that rewards people with a comfortable life and nice possessions when they serve themselves with their time.  Regardless, it is what we are called to as Christians and I’ll posit that it is actually the better path to take in light of eternity and in light of finding our significance in Christ.

Dr. Ramesh Richard, the same professor that wrote the book I quoted from in my last post, actually said during one of his classes that “The will of God will become obvious to you when you are a perfect sacrifice to Him”.  Although the truth of this statement is so easy to affirm in our words, it is so difficult to affirm in our lives at times.  Like I mentioned before, the world gives us hundreds of reasons to spend our time and energy serving ourselves instead of being surrendered over to God as His living sacrifice to do with as He pleases.  Although rejecting our own ambitions seems ridiculous to the rest of the world and results in living like a servant rather than like a king, that’s the place that guys like Tony Evans knew it would be best to dwell in order to reach others and live a life that reflected Christ to them.  He started a ministry with 10 people meeting in his home and my guess is that he made himself the servant of every one of them with no ambitions toward bigger or better opportunities.

I want to close with one more passage from Scripture:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)

What is this passage going to look like in your life today and everyday moving forward?  Get creative, brainstorm.  Instead of creating the next ‘W.W.J.D.?’ bracelet, join me in helping people see the answer to the question ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ based on what they see in our lives today.

Best Wishes,

Tony Gryckiewicz

Significance – Part 1

God doesn’t want you to bring the significant life into being.  He wants a faithful and abandoned life that He may cause to become significant in His way.  Your way to significance is not His way, and His way to your significance may not be your way.  His ways are higher than your ways and may be contrary to your ways.  You may actually settle for less than He intends for your life by attempting to create your significance. [Ramesh Richard, Soul Vision, (Moody Publishers, 2004) 21]

This is a quote from the latest book that I just started reading a couple nights ago for my Spiritual Life class with Dr. Ramesh Richard.  I don’t know about you, but I really need to read ideas like that to get me on the right track for serving God.  I struggle with the concept of significance.  Since the subtitle to this blog reads “an authentic look at a journey in faith and ministry”, I’m going to get pretty authentic with everyone for a moment and discuss what this ’struggle’ has started looking like. 

This week, our school had the privilege of hosting the DTS board of directors meeting and the special guest speaker for our chapel was Dr. Tony Evans.  Tony Evans is probably the single most inspiring leader in the Evangelical church today, in my opinion.  The very first African-American to earn his Doctorate of Theology (ThD) from Dallas Seminary back in 1982, Dr. Evans started what is now a thriving church of 7,500 members from an original group of 10 that started meeting in his home.  Along with writing over 50 books (including one concerning the Holy Spirit that has had the largest impact on me this year by far), Tony also has a radio broadcast program that is heard on over 500 stations in the US and 40 other countries worldwide.  During chapel this week, his message gripped every person in our audience as he used sound Biblical illustrations to encourage and edify.  You can’t hear a guy like Tony Evans speak at the DTS board members chapel and not say “I want to be like that guy one day.”

I use Tony Evans as an example, but the same could be said of Chuck Swindoll, Ramesh Richard, Abraham Kuruvilla, Howard Hendricks, Andy Stanley, J. Vernon McGee or a dozen others that have attended this school at one point and have gone on to ministries blessed by God.  Regardless, there is much to be said about the severe misconception I’m playing with as I dream of impacting thousands with a life-changing message.  Too much of my time is spent figuring how I can use my gifts and talents to impact the world rather than submitting myself to God’s Will and realizing that His Gospel is the only thing that really has the power to affect real change.  Like in Dr. Richard’s book that I quoted from, God’s ways are so much higher than our ways and on Wednesday I’m going to share with everyone how this message is beginning to change the way I think about what I want my life to look like moving forward.  I’ll also discuss what it means to turn one’s attention toward Christ and make Him the one of which you begin to say “I want to be like that Guy one day.”

Before Wednesday’s post, here’s a question for everyone to ponder and comment on – who did you admire most growing up and how is that different from who you admire most today?

The Leader and Reading

J. Oswald Sanders wrote a great book called Spiritual Leadership.  I’d highly recommend this book for anyone aspiring to leadership, something the Bible speaks about over and over again.  Jesus was the ultimate leader; the incarnation of God who had all power yet humbled himself to serve mankind.  The chapter that I read the morning I felt motivated to write this blog post was actually entitled ‘The Leader and Reading’.  While certainly not as foundational to the study of spiritual leadership as the chapters on Jesus’ model of servant leadership or the qualities one should glean from Paul or Peter, this segment made its essential lessons on how and why someone should take the time each day to learn from the few great pieces of literature that exist in this world.  Reading, in whatever form it takes, is important to one’s training in whatever discipline they choose.  

Now if you’re anything like me, you ask the question: “So what do I read?”  This is a great question and is one of the reasons I cannot stand walking into a book store.  The amount of choices I have to wade through to find the handful of books that will honestly be worth the time it takes to read them just makes the whole ordeal stressful.  Sometimes, I just get frustrated because I wonder if there really is enough time to process and consume all those pages in order to find the nuggets of wisdom and perspective that I need to feel ‘well read’. 

Surprisingly, guys like J. Oswald Sanders don’t feel the same stress.  In fact, his recommendation is to read fewer books.  Actually, his idea on the matter (and a great one, in my opinion) is to choose wisely and selectively what you read.  When you do make your selection, devour the book’s contents and make the author your own personal mentor…the type of individual whose words you maul over until they begin taking shape in your life and you gather all the wisdom that person has to offer. 

The people who understand this best are the ones that don’t let themselves be spoiled by the excesses of availability, that quality of today’s culture that can bread indecision and thus mediocrity.  My father, for example, became a self-taught, master-gardener through reading one book over and over again.  Sure, he could’ve spent a fortune by collecting 200 of the best volumes on the topic of horticulture, but instead he read a book called 10,000 Gardening Questions Answered by 20 Experts.  Now was it recommended by Oprah before he decided on that one book?  Probably not, but he knew it held the answers to some very important questions and he spent the time to learn how to do well that which was important to him.

I think that one doesn’t have to read 1,000 books in a lifetime to be well-read; you just have to find those that have some real wisdom and then commit yourself to their tutelage.  Even Daniel Webster, the great American statesman, committed himself to only mastering a few books rather than reading widely.  Along the same lines, the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes once said,

“If I had read as many books as other people, I would know [just] as little.” 

In the spirit of choosing the right books to master with the little time we all have, I’m curious to what you might be reading right now.  If anything, please post a comment on it.  I’d love to hear what you recommend and would read again if you got the chance. 

Best Regards,

Tony

The Good Samaritan – Part 2

Yesterday I told a modern day version of the story of the Good Samaritan.  What many people don’t know about this story (in the original version told by Jesus) is the level of hatred that existed between the Jewish people and the Samaritans.  It was thick.  My use of the present cultural discontent between Americans and Arabs doesn’t even come close to what existed back in Jesus’ time between Jews and Samaritans.  If I was writing during the Cold War, I might have used the Americans and a Communist to show the point I was making.  Frankly, I couldn’t think up something that would grasp the cultural significance of the Jew/Samaritan relationship, so I hope the story I recreated did a fair job and helps everyone get the idea.

Jesus told this story to a lawyer who was able to recite that Deuteronomy 6:5 says “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength”.  (NIV)  He also knew that Leviticus 19:18 said, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.  I am the Lord”.  (NIV)  Despite his knowledge of the law, the lawyer didn’t understand what this truly looked like so he finally asked the question, “So who then is my neighbor?”

First and foremost, Jesus told this story to show the point that being right with God involves our treatment and love for those around us.  See, each of the men in Jesus’ version of the story who passed by the beaten man were leaders in the Jewish religion.  They each had their lives ordered so that they might maintain their ‘righteousness’ by keeping God’s law, while their hearts were far from Him.  Jesus made the point here that being in love with God will show itself in our compassion for one another.  You can memorize Bible passages and impress everyone with your knowledge, but if you cannot show love to others as Christ loved you, you have nothing.  Love for God will result in love for others, plain and simple.

Second, Jesus explains through the parable that loving one another has no cultural, ethnic or social boundary line.  It didn’t matter if the Samaritan culture thought all Jews were detestable, the man in the story saw a broken, dying man and decided to help him.  Why?  Because he had compassion for him and it was the type of compassion that leaves a knot in your stomach until you do something for the sake of the one in need.  Even if it meant personal loss for the Samaritan, who in Jesus’ story offers to pay for whatever bill is incurred by the man in his recovery, what mattered more was the love he showed for his neighbor.  And this is what leads to the third and final point.

Jesus told this parable in response to the lawyer’s question, “And who is my neighbor?”  Our neighbors, friends and family are everyone around us.  My professor hit this point home by showing us some images of the types of people that are hard to love.  It was interesting to see who our culture tells us are outcasts, even humorous at times due to the professor’s crazy examples.  Regardless, above each was written “This Is YOUR NEIGHBOR!”  I’m seeing that missions work starts at home, walking down the street, seeing someone who needs your help and having a knot in your stomach to love those around you and show the love of Christ.  It may even cost you something in the process, and since I’m preaching about this I’m excited to see what opportunities I get to live this out real soon  

Are you willing to be stepped upon or make a sacrifice in order to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’?  This isn’t an easy message, but I wanted to make the point as I will in upcoming lessons that missions starts in the here and now.  Please post your thoughts on this and some examples to share of how we can start living this out in everyday life.  I’m excited to hear what people think.

Tony

The Good Samaritan – Part 1

This past weekend, I wrote a 7-page mid-term exam for my Introduction to World Missions class.  I was shocked by how deeply I began to learn more about the theology of missions through preparing for and writing that exam.  The aspects of what I learned began stirring in my thoughts as I realized not only the need to go outside our borders to share the Gospel, but also how a missions-oriented attitude starts at home where you and I are sitting right now.  All of these posts were composed this past Sunday, the day I devote to worship before the Lord and my service in ministry to those around me.

In the first question of my World Missions mid-term, I was asked to review Luke 10:25-37 (the parable of the Good Samaritan) and discuss both its theological premises and significance to world missions.

Okay.  Let me paint a picture for you.  An American man was on his way home from work in New York City.  While walking in those dark streets, he was approached by a group of thugs and beaten, robbed and left for dead.  He needed medical attention immediately or else he would die.  Moments after this happened, an aspiring young politician came upon the dying man and decided that he just didn’t have the time to be bothered by stopping to help him.  He quickly crosses to the other end of the street to avoid being seen by the helpless man and feeling coerced to lend a hand.  Soon thereafter, a well-to-do American businessman, obviously dressed as if he was also on his way home from a day at the office, almost tripped over the bloodied, beaten man as he walked while fiddling with his Blackberry and trying to catch up on email.  This man, in plain view of the person he almost certainly would’ve wished to avoid, decides that getting involved in helping this man would obviously be a messy situation and he’d rather avoid getting this stranger’s blood on his nice clothes.  He also moves along and pretends he saw nothing. 

Just then, a man who recently moved from Saudi Arabia happened to be walking on the same street and saw this dying man, bloodied and in serious need of medical attention.  Unlike the others, he stops and checks out the situation.  Understanding the gravity of this man’s need, he calls for an ambulance and stays near the man to offer words of encouragement as the paramedics arrive.  Once the man is put in the back of the emergency vehicle, the Arab is told that he is free to go now and is thanked for his help.  Instead, he refuses to leave the poor man’s side and wishes to ride with him to the hospital.  Upon arrival, he remains close to the man and offers to call his family as he’s rushed into the emergency room. 

Days after the incident and when the beaten man is brought back to a stable condition, the Arab is still in contact with the family and inquires of their needs in this difficult situation.  He learns that the family isn’t very wealthy, and while Health Insurance may cover the medical bills, this man’s hospital stay is getting expensive as it keeps him out of work and his wife and children at his bedside rather than working to support their family.  The Arab man and his wife offer to cook for the family and provide them both with meals as well as with a room at a hotel just down the street from the hospital.

Sound familiar? – a story very similar to this one is what Jesus told a lawyer who understood what the Old Testament said about showing love to God and to his neighbor, but then asked the question – “So who then is my neighbor?”

Tomorrow we’ll pick up with the lessons each one of us can learn from this story and how it relates to the worldwide effort to spread of the Gospel of Christ.  We’ll see that having the heart of a missionary actually begins with the proper perspective about the people God puts in our lives regardless of where we are called to be.

Best wishes to everyone,

Tony

He is the Great Provider

Since my appeal to everyone last week for help financially, the Lord has seen it fit to bless me in a few ways and I wanted to make it a point to share that with everyone.  If you remember my previous post, one of the wishes I had was to have the means to visit my family over the upcoming Holidays.  While the Thanksgiving plane ticket was already covered through a very kind gift from a friend at church back in Lancaster, PA, my hopes for Christmas looked gloomy since the cheapest plane ticket on the major travel websites was in the range of $350-$400.  Despite the circumstances, my family and I prayed earnestly for God’s provision in this area.  Although school work keeps me busy, I miss familiar faces and the opportunity to relax and laugh with the people that know me best.  After a couple of days of prayer and every intention to wait upon the Lord, He answered.

Last Saturday morning’s visit to the local Toyota dealership service center wasn’t supposed to be nearly as involved as it became.  I took my truck in to receive the regular maintenance prescribed by the service schedule.  What was supposed to be only a quick oil change and tire rotation turned into a broken water pump and a flat tire.  Now, I know you’re probably wondering how I could be driving all this time without realizing the condition of my vehicle, but I was already aware of one tire slowly losing air pressure.  The water pump part though came as a total surprise to me. 

Although the water pump was broken, the repair would be covered under my warranty and only involved a 10 hour wait at the service department.  10 hours!  I had just realized that I should have brought more work with me to help pass the time when the service representative gave me a tally on replacing the tire with the nail in it – $190!  Yeah…the Saturday following the plea I had just made on my blog for some financial assistance definitely wasn’t turning out the way I had hoped.

Then things began to turn around.  Something told me to wait on getting the tire replaced, so I instructed them to put on the spare as I’d shop for a better deal on a tire.  As I opened a phone book to begin making calls, another man who was waiting for his vehicle approached me and told me about a place in Dallas called Discount Tire that patches nail holes for free based upon the hope that you’ll come back and buy more tires from them in the future.  “I guess I’ll check that out”, is what I said in reply as I quietly praised God in my heart! 

Thirty minutes or so went by in the waiting room when a different guy sitting next to me noticed the book I was reading called Scripture and Truth by D.A. Carson.  He was curious about the topic and we soon got to talking about Dallas Seminary and the church he attends in the area.  After hearing about my situation and inability to get a ride home, he offered to give me a lift back to my place (the only thing he said when I asked if it would be a problem was “Don’t worry about it…welcome to Texas”).

During our ride to my apartment building, the guy explained what he does for a living – he’s a travel agent that represents a discount travel website.  Explaining my Christmas trip situation, he encouraged me to try their site when I got to my apartment.  So I did and I found a plane ticket home for only $250.  Coupled with a generous gift I received this week from a friend on campus that learned about my prayer request and my parent’s very generous offer to help me cover part of the cost, I purchased a ticket and am going home for the Holidays!

Do you see?  This is a fabulous story of God’s provision through a situation where my family and I decided to wait upon the Lord and have faith in His ability to provide.  Please praise God!  Oh, and by the way – I took the flat tire to Discount Tire and they repaired it in 30 minutes – free of charge!