Last month, October to the beginning of November, I felt called to take a trip, kinda… I don’t particularly take usual joy in my actual birth date. I was born on October 31, several decades ago… and what I have learned is that the actual day is a celebration of death. While I know that my Father God is Master over all days, mankind has a way of putting a twist that is bent. So I travel sometimes during the days surrounding my birthday. Initially, I was looking into traveling east, to Indiana, because I wanted a really small and quiet place, but Father God turned my attention to Grand Forks, North Dakota… of all places. I had only ridden the train through the Dakotas on my trip to Alaska. I thought the country was beautiful, but Grand Forks is still plain country and fairly flat - not the rolling hills that turn in the mountains of the west…
BUT, Father God said Grand Forks. Family and friends gave me the side eye as I too gave Father a myriad of reasons why it was a crazy idea… but so often when I feel a nudge, it quickly becomes a push and the deal is sealed. I had my train ticket and my first ever Airbnb reserved within a couple of days of the idea popping into my head. I had made the practical steps to move forward, but I was like, ‘Wait, what just happened? I didn’t have time to think this through, what are those people like in the North Dakota?’ So much fear a trepidation creep all around me…So I did my research and came up with an itinerary - I put the cart before the horse…But I was moving forward into an adventure for sure. This is how my children were adopted… Without too much thought other than a nudge from Father God saying, “This is the time. It’s right. Go for it… Now! Jump! These will be yours as a gift. I knitted them together into your heart…I, (Father God), planned it this way… You need them. They need you. It’s My plan. There’s fruit to bear. Just trust Me!”
And then there were family hiccups to put it mildly… Surely, I’m supposed to not go…
Father God: “But you are… Nina, you have My peace.”
Me: ‘Yes Father! Amid the chaos me staying behind will not help… It will probably make matters worse…’
Father God: “I know! I’ve got everything under control… Go… There’s adventure out there. Lessons to learn…in faith and trusting Me… and a bit of peace…”
Me: ‘Just a bit of peace Lord?’
Father God: “Have I ever let you down?”
Me: ‘Nope. Sigh…’
I was reminded of scripture Luke 5:4-11 when Jesus climbed into the fishing boat of Simon Peter. He and his crew had caught nothing for a full night’s work…but a teacher, Jesus, no less - not a fisherman, was going to tell them what they should do… Simon Peter no doubt out of respect, obeyed the instruction to “…launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught….and when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake…” Simon Peter only knew this man to be more than a mere fisherman extraordinaire and “…fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord…”
Simon Peter was called into the deep. He left everything to follow Jesus’… And so a birthday trip to get away from the din of the city to see, hear something from Father God. To be still and know that Jesus yet calls for me to go deeper still with Him… Calling me surely out of my comfort zone, familiarity, relative safety; for an adventure… Aren’t I too old for this?
My adventure was also for others, not just me, (because of course, I didn’t stay indoors - I engaged with the people). Believe me - you tell folks that Father God called you to their fair town and they give you a look… the side eye… Like I had three heads… But honest conversations were had… The majority of people were kind, very transparent and definitely without agendas… Those that had suspicions were also covertly covering themselves and in unlikely places… like churches, (I visited two). I had, I think, an angel encounter. A young Black man, (he was from out of town as well. Oh, I could count the number of Black people I encountered - just reality), walked up behind me on a very windy day, (44mph), and insisted upon walking me across the street. He walked with me for a few blocks making sure my steps were set. I crossed my final street and he went on… to the coffee shop. I went upstairs to the Airbnb and felt bad that I didn’t invite him to attend church that upcoming Sunday… So within five minutes I was back down the stairs and at the coffee shop and he was nowhere to be found… Not down the street, not in the coffee shop… Just gone…I meet bus drivers and transit station workers, uber drivers, people at the Museum of Art at the university, the Muddy Waters Clay Center and at a Veterans Art Space, and comedians at the theatre, a bank teller, grocery store clerks as well as shoppers, and restaurant workers… Amazingly kind - not just to me but to everyone - they were not a respecter of persons. Walking down the street people spoke first… I was taken aback…
Look what happens when you take up the call… I spoke the words Father God gave when He said speak, and I had a pleasant rest…I was fortified… Because there was surely a storm that was brewing within hours of my return… I hadn’t even laid my head down on my pillow well…
No surprise to Father God… Storms do not rage always… They eventually stop or slow…
This is not my first rodeo… All will be well… Till the next thing… But Father God is with me always
Soli Deo Gloria,
Nina
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