I was exhausted when I got to 15A in the little jet that would bring me from Charlotte to Huntsville on Saturday night. I’ve become accustomed to sleeping pretty deeply even on short flights, so I was looking forward to it. I’d spoken for five days wonderful, but packed, days in south Georgia, rented a car and traveled on down to Jacksonville. It had been a beautiful 24 hours in Florida. As the sun went down on Friday night and the first star came into view, I was holding Ellis, who is just under two years old. He pointed up, excited to see it and shouted “How I wonder what you are!” The thrill of getting to speak on a program with my daughter-in-law, for the first time, and watch Maggie, who is four, lead her song before we spoke—well, it had all been so exciting. The ladies were so full of faith and friendliness. I ate my lunch beside a community visitor who was loving being there, too. The whole day was encouraging beyond what I had hoped. But thrilling things are sometimes exhausting things and I was worn out. I had spoken about “what older women need from younger women”. I felt like I knew by this time of day that this older woman just needed the younger women around her to be quiet on that plane!
But I sat down beside a wonderful conversationalist. Sometimes, that’s a pretty bad thing. But this time, I’m pretty sure God was providentially answering my prayers for opportunities to talk about Him. And so we did. The lady in the seat beside me was in her fifties and she wanted to know about where I’d been that day. I told her that I’d been to Jacksonville, Florida and that I lived in Huntsville. I told her I’d been speaking for a church’s ladies event there. She was a veritable fountain of information—about classifying animals and about the duck-billed platypus, about birds and about lizards–in short about the design designer argument for God’s existence. She was also remarkably knowledgeable about the dangers of Zionism in our world today and so we spent a lot of time talking about how God feels today about Jerusalem and Judaism. She knew little about the Bible and declared that she loved Jesus, but had left off “church” many years ago. I talked about how we can’t love Jesus without loving His church, since Christ had given his life to purchase the church. She wanted to know all about Digging Deep and, by the time we picked up our bags, she gave me a big hug and promised to stay in touch. “I feel like I have found a safe space and I am going to look up your Bible study.”
But perhaps the biggest blessing happened as we were exiting the plane and going up the jet bridge in Huntsville. A sweet young girl from the row in front of us said “I was eavesdropping. What was the name of your Bible study? There’s a group of us at work who study together and we are looking for a new study. We’re almost done with the one we are doing now.” I began to explain it to her before we got a little separated in the airport, but I had asked her if she had checked a bag, so I could try to find her at baggage claim.
I found out a little more about her when we picked up our bags. She was getting home from her honeymoon. (She looked about twelve years old to this old lady. That’s why I was the OLDER woman speaker on the program Saturday!) She lives in a town just outside of Huntsville and teaches three-year-olds in a preschool. So I told her that, if she thinks she’d like to look at Digging Deep, I’ll send her a complimentary study book. She said, “I’ve already joined the Facebook group and that’d be great! Thank-you!”
I’m just saying I serve a great God. There I was thinking that the work was done. I had studied and prayed my heart out about that ladies day, and it was over. Now I don’t know, for sure, but it might have been the work on that plane, that was, in His power and providence, the biggest seed-planting of the weekend! I love it when He surprises me like that! I’d originally not even planned to fly home. Logistics and time constraints had changed my mind and I booked a flight at the last minute. He is so good! Even if the Word does not find a place in those hearts, the conversations were encouraging to me. I’d stay awake anytime for conversations like these!
Pray for these two sweet women. Pray that Digging Deep can impact their lives for the better. Most of all, pray that His Word will be given a chance in their lives to wield its power for salvation. He amazes me.
