Allowing God to meet our needs

2 – Shelter

We (Josh, Tara, Marissa, Johnny, Stephanie, and me) arrived in Chiang Mai with a few contacts but nothing set in stone. Our goal was to simply follow God wherever he led us, whether that be somewhere in Chiang Mai or farther north in Chiang Rai. On Saturday morning we met at 10am to discuss what options were looking promising and where we thought God was directing us. In the midst of our conversation a man walked over and asked if we were Christians. Vern had overheard us talking about Matthew 10 and thought we might be a group of missionaries. We explained to him that we were a part of the World Race and we were having a meeting about our plans for the next week. In response he told us about his ministry, The Eden House, that him and his wife, Audrey, had started a few years ago. He then proceeded to offer us a ride up to Chiang Rai at 2pm. We all looked at each other and smiled. We took Vern’s offer as a sign that we were meant to go north and hopped in the back of his truck still smiling at God’s awesome provision. Number 1 – check!

During a pit stop on our ride up Vern asked if we had any idea where we were going to stay in Chiang Rai. Our negative response resulted in Vern offering us an unused classroom on their property. Not only did God provide housing for the entirety of our stay, He also provided housing with A/C! Number 2 – check!

Saturday evening Vern took us to the grocery store but told us to only buy food for breakfast. Only breakfast? That’s right, both lunch and dinner have been provided for us by churches, fellowship groups, and the Eden house itself. How much better can it get? Delicious, free, Thai food. Number 3 – check!

Even after settling in we still weren’t sure what God had in store for our time in Chiang Rai. We had a few contacts here but after bonding with Vern and Audrey we really wanted to help them out. Sunday afternoon was spent discussing the different ways we could contribute to the Eden house during our stay. Can anyone fix bikes? Well, Johnny is a trained bike technician. Can anyone paint? Well, Shanda went to art school and Tara loves to draw. Sounds like a match made in heaven. Wait, can anyone cross stitch? Well, as a matter of fact Shanda can (as far as I know I’m the only world racer to bring her own cross stitching on the race). Not only did God provide ministry options, but each one fits us perfectly. Number 4 – check!

And last but not least the Eden house has Wifi. Number 5 – check!

And as a bonus to all the above provisions, we’re also having a blast! I think Northern Thailand is going to be on all of our favorites lists.

How awesome is our God? Not only has he provided everything we could possibly need, but everything we could possibly want. Lately I’ve been asking myself why do we even try to plan anything? God has it all planned out, all we have to do is let his plan unfold. In Psalm 139 it says “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” If all of our days have been ordained before we were even born then why do we worry, why do we make extravagant plans, why do we question God? Simply put… He knows best and He wants the best for us. Try letting God plan your day and see how it turns out.