I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
~ Romans 12:1-2
And in exchange for this, He has, by His grace, given this writer a life of abundance that he never knew possible. He is experiencing the Kingdom Life that only He can give of His righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
But it gets better. And this is the basis for what follows.
The story that follows is true. i have witnesses and privately shared this vision with them before the events occurred.
i was praying. He had just released me to begin thinking about a wife in December 2011. i was praying only for His will – no matter what.
And He spoke.
He said “What do you want friend?” i said “i want only what you want LORD.” He spoke back to me, and He said, “I know this, I am honored. Now make your demand beloved.”
So, i asked Him for a wife who would join me in my work on the mission field, and a woman who i could love fully and for whom i could pour out my life.
And He then told me clearly that she would be a ‘Sarah,’ but it was symbolic – I was to meet someone with a name that meant royalty or princess. She would be plain and beautiful and gentle and quiet and sold out to Jesus.
He spoke further, saying that we would love each other deeply – and that i would hold her hand and head one day when she was old and passed into His own presence. And then He told me she would simply walk into my life and introduce herself. He told me that this would “most surely happen”, and that it would happen soon. And so, i simply began waiting on Him.
There was one day, while I was riding my bicycle, that i began to think about ways that i could begin to participate in the plan He was executing. The only response from Him was a laughing, “just ride your bike.” So i did. 🙂
Five months later, she walked into my life. i just did not know it was going to be from 15,000 kilometres away!
i met a woman by the name of Khan (Khan means royalty).
Names,
Times/dates,
G_d speaking directly to both of us,
Dreams,
Symbols,
100% match on a Christian dating site,
Common goals,
Total agreement on the important items in marriage,
Miraculous (we found out later) ability to video conference over an impossibly narrow band of data.
And and and.
AND, her path was directed to me through her own story. The chance of all these things being coincidence is simply laughable. To not move forward in faith would be disobedience.
She found me. She fully loves me.
I found her. I fully love her.
We decided to marry each other on the phone on 6 June in the US and 7 June 2012 in Jakarta.
Then we met in the Philippines on 29 June and had the ceremony the next day. This is a romance written a very long time ago. We were just catching up to the reality of it.
God provided a way to Jakarta for me. i applied for many jobs, but one was already waiting for me. The headmaster at an international school called me on Skype and hired me within 38 minutes.
i had “foolishly” purchased a round-trip tickets back to the States. I now look back and am chagrined. And, in a wink from Daddy, it gets even better… Jakarta is a megapolis of over 10 Million people. It turns out that our new apartment just happens to be 10 minutes away from the school where i got hired. We didn’t plan this… but He did. Wow! And then, it gets even better… Even though i did not need the return ticket – i needed it. The Indonesian government would not have let me into the country without a ticket out of the country due to visa restrictions. Amazing.
She was right on time. It was a most wonderful day! A day beyond my expectations.
I have loved her in my dreams and prayed for her as this moment arrived.
As the first year unfolded, we did indeed go through many of the normal and difficult convolutions of a new couple going through the adjustments of living together (and all this was amplified due to the fact that we were from two totally different cultures, and there is a five-year old orphan we adopted along the way)! However, in exactly the same way as He brought us together, He brings us through these things at a speed that really does almost take one’s breath away.
We are finding that the combined lives of two truly-surrendered believers takes on the quickening flow of His quickening Spirit. Things move mysteriously fast and in majestic ways – even on mundane days. And we often spend large parts of days kinda just looking at each other with our jaws dropping and hands raised at the goodness of the G_d who has brought us together – and the fruit He is bearing through our lives.
In one of my beloved’s dreams before she ever met me, He spoke these words to her – using my voice: “Winter is past. Springtime has come. Take joy my love, be at peace, don’t be afraid, I love you!” And, just like everything else He says, His words are true.
Nothing is impossible with Him.
So… And it is written that His Loving-kindness is new everyday and endures forever. i am not sure i could survive much more. Oh beloved! His Word is true! Cast your cares and life upon Him and see where He takes you!
