Today marks a month of enjoying my unexpected holiday on the north coast. Well, I suppose I haven’t enjoyed 100% of the month, but close enough.
I have believed for the last few weeks that this time away from my normal situation is about more than waiting for a letter from Dublin allowing me to continue living in Ireland. I sense that God is up to more; some things I am aware of and pray God is working on during my absence, but I’m fairly certain there are also things happening I would never have dreamed of.
On Tuesday, I traveled to another city here in the north to meet with others from the organization I work with. Staff came from various parts of the island to pray in this city where we hope to begin working in the future.
After several hours of walking and praying and talking with people, the meetings ended, and before traveling back to my holiday home, I took the chance to meet up with some ladies I met on a previous visit to the area. These ladies know nothing of what I do (aside from knowing I like to sing), but were interested to hear about the meeting and our hope to make contacts in the area.
Within a very short time, I was asked to travel to the city again on Saturday to sing at an afternoon tea. The tea is a fundraiser for work being done in Africa, and some of the music that had been planned fell through. The trip is short enough that I said I would be happy to come back and sing a few songs and visit with them again.
By Thursday afternoon, I received several phone calls, and arrangements were made that I would stay the weekend and take a portion of the Sunday evening service at the church these women attend. I have been asked to sing and also to share my testimony and talk about the work I do.
The minister at the church has recently taken a position as chaplain for a local university campus and is very interested in the organization and the work we’d like to do. I look forward to connecting with him and seeing what God will do through the connection. Perhaps after years of praying for this city, the time is coming for the organization to begin working in partnership with those already serving in the area.
I don’t know what part I may play in the future work in this area; perhaps I will have nothing to do with it in the future. For now though, I feel like God is at work and I love getting to be a part of what He’s doing.
Speaking at a church service this weekend was nowhere close to my mind when I boarded the train Tuesday morning. Making connections that could open new opportunities wasn’t on my mind when I phoned my friends to see if they could meet up that afternoon.
I don’t know exactly what God is doing behind the scenes as I wait for the piece of paper from Dublin that allows me to rejoin my “normal” life. I do know that He is great at doing the unexpected, and if we will keep our eyes open and say yes to the opportunities He presents, life will rarely be boring even when it looks far different than we ever expected it to look.
