Perfect Timing

The last few days have been full of travels...

From the mountains of Thailand, to the mountains of the Philippines!

On the last leg of the journey, Gem Castor and I were going from Cebu to Mindanao. (That's where we are now.)

Traffic was very bad in Cebu, so when we got to the airport it was less than 45 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave. And the check-in counter closes 45 minutes before the flight!

But by God's grace, we got checked in and then went to go through security...

And of all the times to get stopped at security, this was the time... they wanted to look in Gem's suitcase and they wanted to look in my backpack! So they went through his suitcase and then wanted to look in my backpack. Well, I couldn't figure out what on earth they would want to see in my pack, it's all pretty mundane stuff, unless you happen to be interested in cameras! So I opened it and after a few seconds of looking, the lady pulled out a pocket knife! I didn't even realize it was in there, and I had obviously forgotten to put it in my checked luggage.

So Gem decided to run back to the check-in counter and see if he could get it in the luggage. To make a long story short, he got the knife in a separate box checked in with the other luggage.

But while he's doing that, I'm sitting there by security with all our stuff, waiting...

Now, in times past, I might have been worrying about how little time we had, and wondering if we would make it in time... But this time, instead of worrying, I was praising God that He'd brought us this far and that we wouldn't miss the flight.

So as soon as Gem got back we started walking to our gate, and as we walked down the stairs and up to the gate, they announced that boarding was starting. So we stepped right to the counter and were the 2nd and 3rd people to get on the bus that took us to the plane...

I can't help but wonder if the angels were smiling... There was nothing to worry about, God had the perfect timing all set up, and we got first boarding too!

When you're on God's errand, you're on His timing, and His timing is perfect, even for the little things.

"In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." ~ Proverbs 3:6

Divine Appointment

I haven't shared a post in nearly a month, and part of that is because I want to spare you from the details of my current nomadic lifestyle...

Not necessarily because I don't think you'll find those details interesting... (There have truly been some interesting details!) but more importantly, because I don't want what I share to make you think that being a missionary is just a bunch of adventure.

True, I'm living what many people would consider an adventurous life, but adventure isn't why I'm doing what I'm doing...

I'm doing what I'm doing, because the King of the universe has given me a work to do, and He's made it unmistakably clear what that work is...

So although there's a certain amount of adventure to what I'm doing, that's not the reason I want to be here, and that's not the reason God has me here...

There are other, infinitely more important reasons...

Here's one of them...

---

It was a simple prayer really... "Lord, I ask that you give Jonathan a divine appointment today as he travels."

It's not too often that I get to share with people around me as I travel, mostly because not many people speak english.

So I was curious to see what divine appointment God had arranged for me.

About halfway into my travels, a mother and her two boys sat next to me... I didn't think much of it.

But then the boy sitting next to me started asking me questions in english!

And I realized that this boy actually knew quite a bit of english, and that's when I realized that this was my divine appointment...

So I began praying about how to share with this boy...

And in a break between questions, I rather bluntly asked him a very simple question.

"Do you know about God?"

A puzzled look came over his face, then he shook his head and said, "no."

"Do you want to know?" I asked.

"Yes!" He smiled really big and nodded his head.

And so I began to outline to him, in simple language, the story of creation. His 11 year old brain didn't have a terribly long attention span, and I wondered if he was actually understanding...

So I finished by telling him that the same God who created this world, loves us all...

And later as he was getting out of the vehicle, he said this to me.

"I'll never forget."

I pray that Bura will indeed, not forget, but also that he will have a way to learn more about the One who loves Him so much, that He sent His only Son, to die on a cross, so that we all can have eternal life...

---

Only after having an experience like that, can I fully realize how blessed I am, to have grown up with a knowledge of God...

There are so many millions of people that don't have that privilege, and trust me... it will do an amazing thing to your joy meter, when you get to tell them about God.

There's a bunch of people that don't know about God, and would probably want to, if someone like you were to ask them... 

Do you know about God?

Partial Solar Eclipse