Divine Appointments

Last week, Barbara and I spent our 25th anniversary celebrating with a little much needed R&R and “just us” time in Charleston, SC. There were several times in the weeks leading up to our trip, however, where it seemed we might not make the trip. Looking back, I’m sure it was the enemy trying to keep us from some very important divine appointments. While not everything went the way we planned, we made some new friends and came home with some wonderful “God stories”. This is just one of them…

One of our main objectives for our stay was to visit the Charleston City Market. When we had been to Charleston years ago, we only had a little bit of time there and so we were looking forward to taking our time while we perused all the booths and wares. We were specifically looking for gifts for several grandchildren’s birthdays, while also looking for a special anniversary gift to, and for, each other. About an hour into our shopping, I noticed Barbara striking up a conversation with the owner/vendor of one of the booths. I could see she was talking about more than just the art the lady had on display. (Brief aside, my wife is amazing at connecting with complete strangers, to the point that after 10 or 15 minutes she has a new friend, and in some cases, a new sister-in-Christ for life.) I took advantage of this opportunity to purchase a little something for Barbara in the booth across the walkway. As the lady in my booth was helping me with my stealthy buy, Barbara walked over and said, “I found something!” She said it in such a way that I knew there was a catch – and husbands, you know where this is going – that catch was probably a financial one!

After I completed my acquisition, I walked the few steps over to the beautiful pottery and basket creations that this woman had designed and crafted. As I looked, I soon saw the faith oriented themes and influence in most of them. The lady had a story for each. We spent a few more minutes deciding and agreeing which one we wanted to make ours. While some had sayings or bible verses, the one we settled on had just a simple cross. On the back the artist wrote, “I trust Him”. We were sold. And so was the piece of art!

We asked the lady for a business card while she was getting ready to wrap our treasured find. The name of her company was, By His Design. And her last name? Sanders. Yep, that's right. Further evidence that this was a God appointment and not just a place for us to find a neat gift for each other.

You see, one of the things I found out later, was that this lady and Barbara were bonding earlier (while I had gone rogue to make my own purchase) over the need to pray for their daughters…that they would come to desire God's best in their lives and allow Him to do His work in them. (Like I said, my wife has a gift. Well, many gifts, actually.)

As our new friend and sister was safely wrapping up our gift, she told us that she prays over each piece she creates while she's crafting it. She prays for the one, or the couple, to whom it will eventually belong. I asked her when she made our piece... The pottery, she said was made last November or December, and the weaving done in February. February had its challenges for us. To think that God had someone praying for us then, that we knew not, nor they us, shows me just a glimpse of what He is capable of. How many times does He do this? How many times does He look out for us, that we are never aware of?

As if we weren't already sure this was a God thing, after we had paid and after she taught me how to properly carry our new piece of art (which I was a little paranoid about breaking!), when we would have normally said a quick, “Thanks, goodbye, have a nice day!”, she says, “Come here you two, group hug!” At which point, blessings were spoken by and over each other. Wow. Are you kidding me God? You really are something.

As I said earlier, this is just one of three of four really cool interactions we had with complete strangers while we spent those few days away. After each one of them, we walked away blessed, as did, I hope, those that we met.

So, despite the challenges we faced that tried to keep us away, we were supposed to be there those few days! He is a sovereign God and His appointments will find us if he wants them to happen. It's not up to us, like everything else. It's all about Him. And I, for one, am incredibly grateful for that.