Quick Change

This last Wednesday was the thirty-first anniversary of a special event in my life.  It’s the anniversary of the first time Wanda and I went on a date.  It was kind of an unplanned date, really.  We were talking together, I invited her to come have supper with me at the Dairy Queen, and then we went for a walk in Steamboat Park in Pierre.  Something must have gone right, because thirty-one years later, here we are, still together.

It shows how suddenly, when you’re not really expecting it, something can happen that changes your entire life.  When I got up that morning, I had no idea that Wanda and I were going to start dating that day.  I don’t think she did, either.  But God did.  God did a lot of things to bring Wanda and me together.  It started with me going to Pierre, where Wanda was, in the first place.  Had I not gotten a job offer with the state, I never would’ve gone there.  Then, the department I was working in moved to a different building, which just happened to be the building Wanda worked in.  Then, Wanda moved into a different apartment building, a building that just happened to be next door to mine.  When I look at all the things that happened, it seems to me that God was pretty determined to bring the two of us together, and I’m pretty grateful to God for that.

But that’s not the only time my life changed suddenly, when I was not expecting it.  I was in my office in Pierre, minding my own business, when I got a call from a lawyer I knew in Wessington Springs, asking if we’d be interested in moving down there and working for him.  When I was just starting seminary, I was sitting in my office in Springs, minding my own business, when a couple of people from the local United Church of Christ asked if I would be their pastor while I was going to seminary.  When I had a year of seminary to go, and was expecting not to get an appointment in the United Methodist church until after I was done, I got a call asking if we would accept an appointment to North Sioux City.  And after three years there, while I was taking a class to prepare for ordination, I got a call asking if we would accept the appointment here.

I don’t know if it happens to everybody this way, but I don’t think I’m the only one it happens to.  I suspect some of you, reading this, can think of things that have happened in your life.  Times when you were just sitting around, minding your own business, having a day just like any other day.  Then, suddenly, seemingly out of the blue, something happened that changed your entire life.  You might not realize it at the time, but you look back on it, and it seems kind of amazing how that happened.

I believe those are times when God is active in our lives.  I truly believe God brought Wanda and me together.  I think God moved us to Wessington Springs and gave me two years of experience as a pastor there.  I think God knew when it was time for us to move on, and God moved us to North Sioux City.  And I certainly think God was involved in us moving here.

I think that can happen at any stage of our lives.  The extent of the change and the type of change may be different as we get older.  But no matter what our age is and no matter what our station in life is, God can still do something to change our lives.  God has a reason for each of us to be here--we would not be here if that was not so.  Our job is to pray and stay close to God so that, when God wants to change our lives, we’re open to the changes God wants to make.

So pray.  Stay close to God.  Keep your eyes and ears open.  Keep your heart open, too.  You never know.  God may do something to change your life when you least expect it.