You know those people that are extremely detail-oriented? They always have the road trip planned out down to the last penny and an emergency kit in the trunk. They're the kind of people who ask how your exam went, or ask how your sick dog is doing. Well, I'm convinced that not only do we have friends or family members like that, but we have a God who is detail-oriented to an unimaginable extent.
It was 2am. My team and I were on an overnight train in a sleeper car on our way to Belgrade, Serbia. The small, stuffy room filled with five adult bodies and five 50lb packs had an open-able window- praise the Lord. We had opened that window up as soon as we could, even if it meant we would be freezing. As the train drove on through the night though, occasional stops were made. But at a stop around 2am the attitude of our entire team changed drastically. We woke up to the ear piercing scream of our teammate Lindsey. One scream loud and high, another scream louder and higher pitched, and then another even louder and higher pitched than the last. We had no idea what was happening or why she was screaming, but it caused each of us to react in different ways; my reaction was to join her in screaming. Finally able to compose herself enough to speak she yelled, "There was a man! There was a man climbing in our window!" There indeed had been a man crawling in through our window. After climbing halfway in, Lindsey just happened to wake up. She just happened to throw the blanket off of her face, and then she just happened to turn over to face the window. Her screams saved us. Had these things happened thirty seconds later we would have been in trouble. The God-orchestrated details of that night saved us from whatever could have happened on that notoriously dangerous train.
It was a cloudy day in Subotica. Jen and I had made the trip to the nearby city to mail receipts for logistics back to America. After leaving DHL we ventured off to find a place to eat. As we were walking through the city I just happened to make eye contact, and thus smile at a woman walking behind us, which apparently is not a normal thing to do here in Serbia. She immediately stopped us and asked us where we are from. Our response of "The states!" didn't suffice. She responded with "Yeah I know, I am too. Where at?" It turns out Gabriela was born in Serbia, but she and her parents moved to Florida when she was young. She lived there for twenty years attending university, playing professional tennis, and working her way up the corporate ladder of big businesses. Our encounter seemed extremely random, yet absolutely normal at the same time- almost like living a story that has already been written. When we told her we were trying to find a place to eat she excitedly said she knew the best place in town to go. So, off we went with our new Serbian-American friend to Boss Cafe. She ended up sitting with us for what seemed like hours as we talked about our lives, our struggles, our joys and everything in between. At the end of the afternoon we even were able to pray with her and exchange contact info. She showed us her home, her beloved dog, and then walked us to the bus station. One thing Gabriela said that really stood out to me though was that she was shocked that we had just happened to be at the same place at the same time. Had either of us been one minute slower or faster we never would have met. Had I not turned around and smiled she never would have said hello. And she just happened to be one of the very few people in town who spoke fluent English and had lived in the states. My detail-oriented God had brought me a new friend, someone who needed encouragement, someone who needed relaxation, someone who needed prayer.
One small drawback to our amazing home this month is that we don't have showers. (The church we are living in is actually working on building two showers for us though!) Jen and I spent some time one afternoon on a prayer walk through town. As we prayed for Serbia and our ministry, we also included prayers for our team and for ourselves. We prayed that God would find a way for us to shower. We knew it sounded silly, but we were getting desperate. I even prayed that God would randomly provide a gym for us to get a month long membership at. I snickered as I prayed this prayer out loud, not thinking God would ever actually provide my requests.We finished praying and made our way to search for a small cafe we had heard was nice. But much to our surprise, we turned the corner and there right in front of us was a gym within walking distance of our home. We stepped inside and started talking details with the guy at the front desk. Were there showers? "Of course!" Not only had God heard our prayers, our seemingly silly prayers, but he answered them blatantly and quickly. God made it very clear to me in that moment that he cares about the details of my life, even the ones that seem silly.
I am so grateful for a God that cares about the details of his creation. I'm so grateful that he has every last thing planned out down to the last penny, he cares about your latest exam and your sick dog. Even when things seem out of control, know that you can trust our God to iron out the details. Thank you, thank you, thank you Jesus.
