The Beauty of God's Providence in Action

The longer I live, the more convinced I am that everything that happens to us is an act of God's providence. The last few days further confirmed this.

Last Thursday my wife called to tell me that a daughter (Julie Anne Osterhus, age 19) of some old friends of ours was having car trouble. Julie Anne was traveling from Raleigh, NC to Miami to spend the summer assisting a church in its music ministry. Her car began having transmission trouble near Savannah. Through a series of phone calls, Julie Anne got in touch wife my wife, and then ended up at our home.

It was a joy to get to know her, although we felt a little bad about it because she was going to have to leave on Friday morning to make it the rest of the way to Miami. That didn't happen.

Julie Anne made it south of here about 100 miles on Friday morning - then her transmission burned up (smoke, etc.). She managed to get to a repair shop. They told her the car would not be ready until Monday. While we felt bad about the transmission, this also meant that Julie Anne would need a place to stay for a few days. Alice, therefore, drove to get Julie Anne and bring her back to our home.

We all had a great time getting to know one another over the next few days. We went to the community pool, walked River Street, toured the historic district, and enjoyed the Compline Service at historic Christ Church Savannah. We also did a lot of hanging out.

Julie Anne blessed us all by playing and singing a song she wrote herself. This was very edifying for our church family as we gathered on Sunday morning.

Alas, Julie Anne's car was finally repaired yesterday (Tuesday). Alice drove her to where it was, and Julie Anne is now safely in Miami.

This whole episode that began badly (transmission problems) ended up as a great blessing to our family and (I hope) to Julie Anne. We were blessed with a new friend who helped build us up in Christ.

This is just another example of God's providence in action. We deserve nothing but the Lake of Fire, but the Lord blesses us greatly every day.