10.07.2011

Isabel's Story

I received this email and these pics this week and after getting permission wanted to make it available to you.  I trust you will be as encouraged as I was.  Thanks Isabel!

 

Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I just wanted to tell you about my morning today:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I decided to take a walk during the Sunrise Beach Bible study  
>>>> this morning and send out my usual SBBS morning text message.

>>>> This was the text message:

"So this morning as i was watching the sunrise i noticed there  
>>>> were a bunch of fishermen on the beach trying to catch some fish.  
>>>> Some were using poles and others nets. It reminded me how god is  
>>>> constantly fishing for us. Sometimes he uses small and big event/ 
>>>> nets to search for us. But how awesome is our God who baits His  
>>>> hook and casts it into the vast ocean... patiently waiting until  
>>>> we grab hold."
>>>>
>>>> While on my walk I met several fishermen:
>>>>
>>>> One of the fishermen came up to me. His hair was graying around  
>>>> the edges and he had clearly had coffee this morning because he  
>>>> had spilled it down the front of his shirt.  Regardless, this man  
>>>> and I started talking about life. His name was Jim and he is 75  
>>>> years old (his wife says he is 25 with 50 years of experience).  
>>>> His wife, who was his college sweetheart, was recently diagnosed  
>>>> with cancer.
>>>>
>>>> He told me about his position on the executive board of a  
>>>> missionary program in Africa. We talked about the importance of  
>>>> doing this type of work and the impact it can have on people who  
>>>> least expect it. I told him how I would love to someday do  
>>>> medical missionary work so this was absolutely fantastic talking  
>>>> to someone who knew so much about it.
>>>>
>>>> We began discussing how his sister went to medical school and is  
>>>> now an OB/Gyn. When she went to med school in her class of 150  
>>>> students only 2 were female.
>>>>
>>>> He had asked me my plans for after school and I had mentioned how  
>>>> I would love to go to medical school. And He told me something  
>>>> that I know I will never forget...He said "After 75 years of life  
>>>> and reading scripture when young people ask him, How will I know  
>>>> God's will for me?, he always replies that you follow God's will  
>>>> by not becoming lawyers or doctors but by being Godly. If God  
>>>> wants you to become a Doctor He will place this on the hearts and  
>>>> minds of the admissions committee. If it is God's will, God will  
>>>> make it happen."
>>>>
>>>> While I know that this is such a simple concept, because  
>>>> scripture tells us that God loves who we are today and not the  
>>>> occupation will have in the future, but how we should live our  
>>>> lives by His standards and not by our parent's, peers, or even  
>>>> the world's expectations . At this point I was on the verge of  
>>>> crying because I never thought, especially when I woke up this  
>>>> morning, that God would answer my prayer, that I have been  
>>>> praying for the past few months and again that morning, pleading  
>>>> for answers of why I am struggling with the plans for my future  
>>>> and I  certainly never thought that He would do it in the form of  
>>>> this Godly man fishing on the beach.
>>>>
>>>> This adorably sweet man, who invited me to church with him on  
>>>> sunday (his wife and him always sit in the front row so you can't  
>>>> miss them), was just casually fishing on the beach, just like in  
>>>> my text message, and had clearly been placed there by God. Taking  
>>>> advantage of the opportunity I gave him a DC card. When I handed  
>>>> it to him He became very excited because his friend fishing next  
>>>> to him, had just moved to the area with his wife, and was looking  
>>>> for a laid back/casual kind of church (which is pretty much DC in  
>>>> a nutshell). I couldn't help but see God's hand in this  
>>>> situation. Not only was I just in awe that I had this encounter  
>>>> with this first fisherman but then I met someone who was actively  
>>>> looking for a church!
>>>>
>>>> Even though there are times when you think you are just one of  
>>>> many fish searching for God in a VERY large ocean--Our God still  
>>>> finds you and places people, sometimes in the form of a  
>>>> fisherman, in your life to show you His Love for you.
>>>
>>>> -Isabel

3 comments:

Drew Hanley said...

Thanks for the post! It's a great story, and I love the wisdom shared about God's will, that His will is primarily that we become more and more like Christ. It's absolutely true!

Chip Stallings said...

Yes Drew very true. Isabel provided us with some great perspective. "God's Will" for so many seems complicated and mysterious. She got to the real heart of the issue in that God is using the uncertain areas of life to shape us in ways that clarity never could.

Shay Haugan said...

Wow Isabel thanks for sharing. I love how God answers prayers! It's all in His timing.