Entering the Contest

I am not a big Facebooker but it sure is a great tool at times and so it was that I happened to be on Facebook when I saw an “advertisement” for a contest. It was about the middle of September 2010 and as I was reading the advert I got very excited. Reinhard Bonnke!!! He would be someone that I would most definitely want to hang out with! Without hesitation I entered the contest on line and a about a week later an acknowledgement came in the mail. I replied as they requested and then received a confirmation as a registered contestant. This was great to me! I prayed that the Lord would let me go and be apart of this wonderful crusade and this mighty man of God.

The end of September was the closing of the contest and I received a notice telling me so and that I should send invitations to others to enter the contest giving me votes for more entries. I took this very seriously so I sat down for an hour or two and emailed everyone I knew that their entry would help

Australia

Just over a year ago the Lord lead me out of a wonderful job that I had held for over 13 years. Because the job was so wonderful it was hard to make the transition but since making the change it has been even more wonderful. When moving with the Lord blessings are sure to follow. My new employer, Viterra, at the time that I started with them had just acquired a business in Australia. With this knowledge I had started praying for an opportunity to spend some time in Australia with my new company and this fall just before heading off to Ogbomosho, Nigeria with Christ for All Nations I had a confirmation that there was a job for me for three months in Adelaide, South Australia. When I applied for the job I did not know at that point that I would be traveling to Nigeria. So again I remember the picture God gave me of the plane in the clouds and was wondering if this would be the fulfillment of that picture? When I left for Nigeria I was still in prayer over this opportunity that had come before me and I would need to give an answer when I returned from my “date with God”…

A Hint from God

What I love about God is that he gives us hints to what is to come and He does that through different ways. Earlier this year in the Spring I was driving from Taber, my home city, to Lethbridge just west of Taber by about 80 km (50 miles) when I saw in the sky a plane that was made from a formation of clouds. It was a very big plane, one that was used for international flights and I sensed that I was receiving something from our Lord. I found it interesting because I travel by plane from time to time for work however I knew this was not work related because the planes I fly with for work are small. At the time I was praying about a trip to India that I was planning so I thought it might be a reference to those plans and I kept this picture in my heart.

Our Father in heaven speaks to us in different ways as He did to Moses in a burning bush and to Joseph and Mary by angels and there are the prophets who gave hints, direction and correction to many like King David so I sensed this was the Father giving me a time when I would be traveling by plane again to a foreign land and I was calmly excited.

Anyway, during the summer of this past year I was still praying about India and for some reason kept putting off making arrangements. One of the pastors that I would be with called me in August and asked if I had solid plans for India as he would put an itinerary together for the time that I would spend with him. As I prayed I thought that maybe now was not the time for India and that maybe in the New Year it would be better. As it turned out I won a trip to Africa through Christ For All Nations and was heading to Ogbomosho, Nigeria on November 8th instead of India. Jesus knew where I was going and gave me a hint of it in the Spring…

Just before I left for Nigeria I was speaking to my Chiropractor, Dr. Sharon and mentioned to her how I saw this plane in the sky as a message from God for me. I loved when she said she would need to pay better attention to her surroundings so she could hear from God in a new way as well. I was so delighted to find out that she was a sister in the Lord too! What fun.

Back Home in Canada

Well it has been three weeks since my daughter-in-law Amanda and I arrived back in Canada and we came home to snow and cold. My home country is so beautiful so the conditions did not throw me and the drive home gave me time to enjoy the beauty and to savor the short time in Nigeria with wonderfully warm weather. It has been anywhere from 0 C (32 F) to -40 C (-40 F) since we’ve been home so winter is settling in.

Mostly it was very comforting to hear my daughter’s voice telling  me she was so thankful that I was on my way home and was looking forward to seeing me. Trey Perry had lent me his phone in Lagos so I could call Danielle to let her know I was on my way to Canada.

However my trip did not start here and nor did it start on November 8th when I left for Nigeria. As it is with Jesus it is always a journey that has so much more to it than a single time frame…

driving home along the Rocky Mountain Foothills