A God-Moment

I had a different post planned for today, but I was struggling to gather the words in an order that made any sense, so I decided to postpone that idea until I can wrap my mind around it a bit better. And in the meantime, I have a story to share that encouraged me so much! I hope it brings some encouragement to your heart too!

The story started almost ten years ago, and I blogged about a snippet of it back then. If you'd like, you can read that story here. But if you're in a hurry, I'll give you the short version:

Ten years ago, as I was crawling out of the heart-desert I'd lived in for a good chunk of the year, my friend Julie asked if the ladies' Bible study group at her church could go through a study I had written but not formally published. I gave them the material, and on their very last gathering night, Julie invited me to drive up and attend with her, so I could meet the people who had gone through the material. I did, and it was a heart-boost to me after so much hurt that year.

Yesterday, Ryan and I visited Jon and Julie's church for morning worship. In our Kokomo days, we were a good two hours away from them, and it made visiting on a Sunday morning kind of tough. But we're much closer in Grabill, so we headed there to worship with them!

When I told Julie we planned to visit, she said they were going to have an outdoor baptism service, so she understood if we wanted to wait until a more normally structured Sunday, but I thought a baptism service sounded like great encouragement!

So we went, and it was a beautiful day. We sat on our lawn chair loveseat in the shade of a giant pine tree, listening to people share how they came to faith and why they wanted to be baptized. A couple of young boys went first and then a half dozen or so adults shared their own stories. One by one, they dipped under the water of a huge pond, and it took me back to my own baptism in a pond, on a day very much like yesterday.

I appreciated all the stories I heard, but I was really impressed with the composure and articulation of the two boys.

After the service ended, Ryan and I hung around to wait for Jon and Julie, and as we waited, a woman walked toward me with one of those boys by her side. She said, "I know you don't know me, but a few years ago..."

She got about that far, and all the details clicked in my head.

You see, one part I did not mention in that original post was that during that visit to the Bible study, one of the women told me she had been so moved by the chapter on Jochabed (Moses' mother) that she decided to name her new baby Moses. That was a powerful moment for me - and I'm not sure now why I didn't mention it when I wrote the post.

A couple of weeks ago, as I packed up our home office, I tucked my copy of that Bible study into a box and wondered what ever happened to Moses. I couldn't quite remember how many years had passed, but I wondered what became of him as he grew.

And as the woman stood in front of me beside the pond, I realized that boy beside her was Moses. They had called him Mo in the service - and I never made the connection.

I had actual tears in my eyes as I stared at this articulate, faith-filled boy, still drying off from his baptism. I was trying to explain to his mom that I DID remember her and I DID remember the story of his name, but I'm pretty sure the words just tumbled out in random, stuttering order. And Moses probably wondered how anyone struggling to speak full sentences had managed to write a Bible study that had helped his parents find his name.

What an absolute gift from God that yesterday "happened" to be the day we visited their church. (We had planned to go last week instead and changed our minds.)

God is always in the details, and I know that. But when He gives me a glimpse INTO the details - it's a blessing indeed. And yesterday the detailed blessing came in the form of a testimony of a boy named Moses.