Godincidence: Long but Meaningful Blog
Coincidence is all about God's time.
Yesterday was quite the day. As my previous blog stated and showed, by all the typing errors, I was exhausted. The night on the ferry without a room was stupid. In order to save money, I gave up sleep as a child screamed all night. No one could sleep as the mom carried him around for the whole six hours (of course resting right behind me just as I was dozing off).
Without sleep for the majority of the weekend I was in no state to be driving, but drive I did. I seemed to catch a second wind after some coffee and arrived in Corner Brook around 9 AM. Sherry and I needed a few things for the move and so I had McD's breakfast and ran around the shops. Instead of staying at a hotel in the city I decided to get as far down the coast as possible so that in the morning I would just get up at nine and catch the ferry, as planed, for 10:30 NST.
I arrived at the motel in "Plumb Point" around three in the afternoon, none the worse for wear but it was all starting to hit. I really didn't want to move off the bed but took a bath and once again got enough energy to sit and eat. As I read my book a gentleman said to another, "when is the ferry leaving? Are they selling tickets yet?" surprised I asked what was going on? The boat hadn't traveled since Friday and there were hundreds of angry, and financially spent, passengers (the background is that the ferry, the Apollo, has one engine broken and this is hindering travel in even the slightest wind). As a major artery for the Labrador and Quebec coast this was a problem. Winds were to pick up the next day and I jumped up, left my $22 meal half way through, and made arrangement to leave my key, just in case I couldn't get on and had to return to the motel: "no problem" the woman said.
When I arrived at the terminal it was chaos. Mr. Woodward, the owner, himself flew in by helicopter to assess the damage to his reputation, and his ferry which he has known for a month is in bad shape. The media, NTV & CBC were now very much involved. My number was 79... not good as cars get on at 70 max.
As it turned out, and you will find this incredible, I got on the ship as a walk on as there was no room for my car; and so I left it behind, with the key in it, filled with boxes of purchased items, with all the doors open. Martin, the purser, said, "leave it here bye, and I will put her on the next crossing." That was good enough for me and a handful of others. I imagine it just sat there with the keys into her.
I got across, an hour longer than a usual trip due to the engine problems, and Sherry was there waiting. We took off for home. This is where God clearly make his face shown, though just try and say that all that strength wasn't given for this very reason....
We came across the flashing lights of the police, they are never around and so two of them, the entire force, was a bad omen; recall we are in the middle of nowhere and so this spot, "the series of curves" just past the Blanc Sablon dump (10 mins outside of the village), is a plateau of rock cuts and barrens. We saw these lights for quite a ways before getting to them. The SQ Officer didn't seem to care much that I was a priest but his reasons were correct, there was a death and the family was not yet informed. A few meters away I saw my mechanic, the one who is responsible for "cleaning up" wreckage. I asked if I was needed and who it was: INDEED I WAS NEEDED.
The man was 44 with a teenage daughter and older son. He was on his way back from giving his love to his daughter before going "crabbing." It is a heart breaking story with many in deep grief. I arrived home and whet immediately on the boardwalk those few houses down to his parents. Indeed God placed me on that boat, in that diningroom, with that strength, so that I could be there in my vocation as a pastor. It was a Godincidence.
______________________________
Today the ferry did run and Sherry and I went down to get the car (everything was there). We had some things to pick up in Forteau and when we arrived the @%@$%^@$^! Minivan, the bane of my life if you didn't know already, stalled and gave up... once again. Had I mentioned that yesterday Sher got the breaks done on it... oh ya, and the fact that we haven't known how fast we go, nor the fuel in the tank. It's a joy. Well odd thing is that a month ago a friend said, "take it to Jim in Forteau, he's great and honest"... not that Perry isn't. Well taking two vehicles that far (80km) wasn't going to happen: it did.
And so my minivan is now with Jim at his garage on "Misery Hill Rd." The name so fits this van!
I ask your prayers, for this darn minivan and the need for it to be fixable and safe for this 1700 km trek to Florenceville in a little over two weeks time.
And I ask your prayers for the Roberts family at the loss of their son Chris.
Finally I ask that you put on the eyes of Christ and see the coincidences that God places before you, they are answers to prayer, often a prayer we don't even know we have prayed. Let Christ's light enable you to see the things which are hidden, so you can encourage others with your tales of his presence as I have tried to do with this blog this evening.
Yesterday was quite the day. As my previous blog stated and showed, by all the typing errors, I was exhausted. The night on the ferry without a room was stupid. In order to save money, I gave up sleep as a child screamed all night. No one could sleep as the mom carried him around for the whole six hours (of course resting right behind me just as I was dozing off).
Without sleep for the majority of the weekend I was in no state to be driving, but drive I did. I seemed to catch a second wind after some coffee and arrived in Corner Brook around 9 AM. Sherry and I needed a few things for the move and so I had McD's breakfast and ran around the shops. Instead of staying at a hotel in the city I decided to get as far down the coast as possible so that in the morning I would just get up at nine and catch the ferry, as planed, for 10:30 NST.
I arrived at the motel in "Plumb Point" around three in the afternoon, none the worse for wear but it was all starting to hit. I really didn't want to move off the bed but took a bath and once again got enough energy to sit and eat. As I read my book a gentleman said to another, "when is the ferry leaving? Are they selling tickets yet?" surprised I asked what was going on? The boat hadn't traveled since Friday and there were hundreds of angry, and financially spent, passengers (the background is that the ferry, the Apollo, has one engine broken and this is hindering travel in even the slightest wind). As a major artery for the Labrador and Quebec coast this was a problem. Winds were to pick up the next day and I jumped up, left my $22 meal half way through, and made arrangement to leave my key, just in case I couldn't get on and had to return to the motel: "no problem" the woman said.
When I arrived at the terminal it was chaos. Mr. Woodward, the owner, himself flew in by helicopter to assess the damage to his reputation, and his ferry which he has known for a month is in bad shape. The media, NTV & CBC were now very much involved. My number was 79... not good as cars get on at 70 max.
As it turned out, and you will find this incredible, I got on the ship as a walk on as there was no room for my car; and so I left it behind, with the key in it, filled with boxes of purchased items, with all the doors open. Martin, the purser, said, "leave it here bye, and I will put her on the next crossing." That was good enough for me and a handful of others. I imagine it just sat there with the keys into her.
I got across, an hour longer than a usual trip due to the engine problems, and Sherry was there waiting. We took off for home. This is where God clearly make his face shown, though just try and say that all that strength wasn't given for this very reason....
We came across the flashing lights of the police, they are never around and so two of them, the entire force, was a bad omen; recall we are in the middle of nowhere and so this spot, "the series of curves" just past the Blanc Sablon dump (10 mins outside of the village), is a plateau of rock cuts and barrens. We saw these lights for quite a ways before getting to them. The SQ Officer didn't seem to care much that I was a priest but his reasons were correct, there was a death and the family was not yet informed. A few meters away I saw my mechanic, the one who is responsible for "cleaning up" wreckage. I asked if I was needed and who it was: INDEED I WAS NEEDED.
The man was 44 with a teenage daughter and older son. He was on his way back from giving his love to his daughter before going "crabbing." It is a heart breaking story with many in deep grief. I arrived home and whet immediately on the boardwalk those few houses down to his parents. Indeed God placed me on that boat, in that diningroom, with that strength, so that I could be there in my vocation as a pastor. It was a Godincidence.
______________________________
Today the ferry did run and Sherry and I went down to get the car (everything was there). We had some things to pick up in Forteau and when we arrived the @%@$%^@$^! Minivan, the bane of my life if you didn't know already, stalled and gave up... once again. Had I mentioned that yesterday Sher got the breaks done on it... oh ya, and the fact that we haven't known how fast we go, nor the fuel in the tank. It's a joy. Well odd thing is that a month ago a friend said, "take it to Jim in Forteau, he's great and honest"... not that Perry isn't. Well taking two vehicles that far (80km) wasn't going to happen: it did.
And so my minivan is now with Jim at his garage on "Misery Hill Rd." The name so fits this van!
I ask your prayers, for this darn minivan and the need for it to be fixable and safe for this 1700 km trek to Florenceville in a little over two weeks time.
And I ask your prayers for the Roberts family at the loss of their son Chris.
Finally I ask that you put on the eyes of Christ and see the coincidences that God places before you, they are answers to prayer, often a prayer we don't even know we have prayed. Let Christ's light enable you to see the things which are hidden, so you can encourage others with your tales of his presence as I have tried to do with this blog this evening.
1 Comments:
Heh, I stayed in Plumb point once, except it was because of a snow storm, and not engine trouble. During that time Petter was with me, and we visited the lobby. He saw a magnet of a puffin smoking, and it said "No Puffin' Please." I'll always remember it, he was so delighted to see the pun. What a weenie. :P
Yeah so I also heard the bad news yesterday, it was pretty shocking. I used to be great friends with his older boy, Kirby (We were next door neighbours with Chris).
So yeah, my thoughts are with his family... and...um.. your van too! HAHA! Ciao! :-)
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