- Workout Date - 10/03/2023
- Q In Charge -
- The PAX -
- AO -
Do you ever question the existence of God? If you believe he exists, do you wonder if he cares about you? If you believe he cares about you, do you fail to see evidence of his presence in your life?
I want to, briefly, relate an experience from last weekend. I hope it encourages you.
On the 27th leg of the Blue Ridge Relay last weekend, Van 1 of “There will be Beer” with Footloose behind the wheel, made an unscheduled stop on top of a hill deep in the mountains of North Carolina. This was Fairview Cemetery, Green Mountain, NC.
Flashback to May 5, 2012. Our 3rd son, Knox, was stillborn at 24 weeks. It was a very sad time for us, but God was faithful and in less than a year later we were blessed with twice what we lost. Twins.
Fast Forward back to last Saturday. 0345 Hours. God reminded me, once again, that he does exist, he does care and he is near. In the wilderness of our lives, it’s easy to feel tired, alone and lost. Anyone who ran those legs or rolled in the vans in those wee hours knows that we were off the grid. Just mountains, hollows, rivers and train tracks. Those early morning legs can be a metaphor for the struggle we experience at times in our lives. But the 27th leg that Floppy ran, passed within a quarter of a mile from where my grandmother and all of her siblings grew up. Where we meet every year for the decoration of the graves of those whom have passed before us. Where my son Knox’s earthly body is buried at the foot of his great-grandfather.
Van 1 let me out, and with headlamp lit, I walked up to Knox’s grave site and had the awesome blessing of spending a few minutes in thanksgiving for his life and the blessing of being his father. Some of you might be thinking, “life? He never breathed a single breath of air.” But when compared to eternity, the length of his life will be entirely indistinguishable from yours and mine. We are dust. Here for a second and gone.
Though tired, in pain, in a smelly van, full from an over-sized baked potato that caused a teammate to spill more than Merlot a short time later… God was very present and very much at work.
I want to say that this was one of the most special moments of my life. I felt God’s presence in a very powerful way. It was quite a gift, and I wanted to share it with my brothers. Aye! – Golden Sombrero
Aye Brother. Who are we mere mortals to say what constitutes “life”, or define what a “just God” would (or should) do? There might be (just might) a few things about the universe that we (giant brains that we have) cannot possibly fathom.
I think it is reasonable for us to tell God that having belief in the unseen is a lot to ask of a man, that we struggle with it. I think it unsurprising that the God who asks that we do so nonetheless would choose to appear at times and places of His choosing (not ours) to reinforce that belief.
Formerly (because I believed in little else), I believed in coincidences. Now, I believe in appearances that I experience. It appears that you have experienced an appearance as well. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Thanks Sombrero — that sounds an entirely different tone of that moment and I’m glad to add it to my memories of the weekend.