DIVINE APPOINTMENTS THIS WEEK

We went to church on Sunday and while we were in the parking lot, my daughter Ellie says; "Mom, look at that guy over there, he kinda looks like Solomon." To which I respond, "Yes he does, he looks Ethiopian". A few minutes later, my husband is standing outside the van and as Mr.Tim Brannagan walks by, (he served as a missionary in Ethiopia 9 yrs.now teaches at a Bible school in Addis). Jerry tells me that Mr. Brannagan is going back to Ethiopia in a few months. Just as he mentioned "Ethiopia" the young man was walking by our van and his head literally snapped around and he looked at us with big eyes and a look of surprise.... so I yelled out to him, "Are you from Ethiopia?". He lit up and said, "YES, DO YOU KNOW ETHIOPIA?" as he walked toward us with a big smile on his face. As we talked I asked him how he got to the USA and if he was with his family. He responded; "No, I am an exchange student here." To my surprise I asked if he knew Lyston Peebles, and JT Vaughn. HIs face lit up again as he stated; "Yes, they are the people who brought me here and interviewed me in Ethiopia". His name is MISGANAW and he lives in Addis Ababa with his family. He is here for the one year program and hopes to come back to go to college. As I stood there talking to him it was as if that small voice whispered to me again, "This is a divine appointment from the LORD". Which is exactly what I said out loud to him as well! What are the odds that in the parking lot of our church we meet the young man that Cherokee Fund brought over here from our beloved Ethiopia and that we know Lyston, JT, and everyone that is responsible for him standing in front of me???? Do you see GOD??

It turns out he had no intention of going to our church Sunday, but a neighbor of his invited him. He came to church and met us, the missionary family Brannagan's, and another family that has adopted from Ethiopia. More importantly, he was so moved and touched by the sermon that he went to the pastor after service in tears and thanked him for the amazing message that touched his heart. He said more than once, "I know God brought me here today for a reason, I see God in all of this today!" He also shared his heart for Ethiopia with our pastor and asked if our church could do something to help his country and his people. My pastor stood there talking to him and waved for me to come join him. As I did, he asked if I had met him and I told him we just met in the parking lot. He then told Misganaw, "The Lord has been bringing people to our church that have a passion and heart for Ethiopia and I am sure we will be doing something with Ethiopia in the future."

We have told our pastor and elders that the Lord has called us to minister to the orphans of Ethiopia and we are praying for vision and discernment on how the church should get involved. They are open to it but none of us yet know what this ministry is going to look like. We all however, were in tears this morning as we saw GOD clearly at work, we all realized that it is no coincidence that we were all standing there talking together!!

So when I got home, I checked email and decided to send an invitation for Misganaw to come to dinner this week. It turned out he had already sent us a message as well. He has given me permission to post his note here for the purpose of you SEEING GOD! He was so moved by this day that he titled his facebook post as "AN AMAZING DAY!"

Misganaw's Note to me

It was unbelievable coincidence,led by the Holy Spirit, i assume, how we got to meet together. God intended this for a reason in our life. I really enjoyed the Sermon and yes, of course, Pastor Dwayne is blessed with the ability to share the word of God. I read both letter's Solomon's letter with tears covering my face.. I can not even imagine how hard life will be without a parent to get assistant, a sibling to play with and somebody to share your feelings. He is smart and strong to cross all this boundaries to reach at this point of time where he at least get somebody to call MOM, MY FAMILY. The position, where Solomon is at this time, is really crucial in his future life, and i am sure with God's assistance and leadership he will finally get his family and plan for his success. I can not wait until i go back and meet him, at least,to be a good friend and to share him what i have.
OH YES, i have a BIBLE, always next to my bed,and i read it often,but i am learning to root my life to Christ and to give all priorities to the word of the Holy Spirit.I would love to come over to your house and spend sometime together. I told everything about you all to my host family and they are excited about meeting you guys. OH YES, i love Pizza but my favorite is Char Grill Hamburger..haha. I will let you know about the Wednesday service as soon as i figured out my school schedule for the next week, i am looking forward to see you all again. Thanks, I love you and God Bless you!!



ANOTHER GOD MOMENT TODAY, TUESDAY

The kids and I picked up my Mom from the airport today. She just spent two weeks in Florida with my siblings and her sister. It was a good thing for her to get away since Daddy passed away on January 7th. So, on the way home we decided to stop for lunch. Ellie's request was to eat at Bahama Breeze so that's where we were headed. When we were just 2 blocks away, I just got this weird feeling that I should go to Casalinga instead, I told Ellie and then I literally turned around and drove another
15 minutes. It was one of those weird feelings.

This is our favorite Italian restaurant and we have been going there for 14 years. This is our special "date night' restaurant and special occasions because it is a little pricey, but worth every penny. Carlo, the owner, is a five star award winning chef which is an honor only given to about 200 chefs in the world. We are very honored to call him a friend.

Well, I am in the buffet line getting plates for all the kids when our waiter comes to help me. He starts asking about all the kids and I shared some of our testimony while going through the line. He helps me back to the table and I start feeding all the kids. Then, he comes back with the cashier and she says "Excuse me, we have to tell you something." We all just stopped eating and looked at them with an; "OH,OH, WHAT IS WRONG LOOK!" She and the waiter stood there with tears as they told us there was a man sitting near the buffetline and heard me telling our story. He was so moved by our story of adoption that he just paid the bill for all of the children's lunch. We were shocked and of course, I just broke down in tears. My MOM was really surprised as she is just not used to this "GOD STUFF" happening so frequently. (Please pray for her...)Everyone in the restaurant was talking about us and to the kids and without realizing it, the LORD was at work! Then, we were out in the car and the waiter came running out to the van. I opened my window and asked if we forgot something, I assumed we lost a shoe or something. He responded; "YES!" He handed me the money we left for his tip and said he was honored to serve us today. Then he told us the man that paid for our lunch had been on the phone earlier with his brother and that their mother was in the hospital. He asked us to please pray for them. He also said he was so blessed by seeing our family today; "I would give everything I have to be as blessed as you are, you have an absolutely beautiful family. I know the Lord is well pleased and I can't wait to go tell this story at my church this week. Bless you and thank you for blessing all of us today!"

This was an absolute confirmation that the Lord had given us a divine appointment! Ellie said, "Even though I was really mad because I wanted to eat at the other place and I don't like cheese on everything, this was so worth it to really SEE GOD TODAY!

HAVE YOU SEEN GOD TODAY IN YOUR LIFE?? ARE YOU INTENTIONALLY LOOKING FOR HIM?? HE IS THERE!!