god in the details

My mother is a lovely God-fearing woman who used to tell me that God knew how many hairs I had on my head. I didn't really believe her. After all these years, it turns out that she was right.

I'm learning that God is in the details. Not being a detail-oriented person myself, I often shrug my shoulders, figuring that everything will work itself out.

When Jesus talked about the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, and how much more he loves and provides for us, I'm realizing that he meant it. I'm reminded of the popular Sunday school song anthem that boasts, "He's got the whole wide world in his hands."

In between long hours of business plans, phone calls, travel arrangements, and finishing up at my current job, God has been there, working his magic. He's been busy filling in the details of a plan, which, at first glance, seemed impossible.

For example, tomorrow I will sign a lease for a beautiful 3-bedroom Victorian home in the Easttown district of my city. The owner "Googled" my name, which sparked a conversation about careers. We are both writers. We both left the corporate world to start our own ventures.

I spilled everything--the travel plans, financial instabilities, high risk, first year cash flow issues, no proof of employment--and instead of rejecting us, he decided to slice rent in third, cancel any security deposit and delay rent for a month.

God.

I talked to a good friend late last night, and we traded stories of how God has been working in our lives. We talked about how often he blesses us or teaches us, and how quickly we revert to the thought that we had something to do with it.

God.

I love our stories. I love to hear how God is moving. Unfortunately, we often don't share about our spiritual journeys as often as we should. Last week, our men's small group took an entire night to listen to each others stories, to share, to vent, to pray, to ask.

Life is a journey of people; we are creatures with eternal value.

Tonight I worshipped with my community, surrounded by people in love with God and those in search of Him. Tonight they prayed for the journey ahead, sending blessings, and offered me up to God to do the work He's out to do in my life.

Tonight I said goodbye to my community. I will miss them. I think of how I almost left this city for new beginnings. I think about what it would've been like to leave everything behind. And I have this growing confidence that the work here is not yet finished.

There's more to learn, more life to live, more people to love, more stories to tell.