Works of God Monday

This is a bit long, but it's a really neat story that I just HAD to share. :) First, we have to rewind about 8+ years. It was sometime in our first year of marriage, and in the early days of Jim's carpentry business. We had gone into a local print shop to order business cards for him, and while we were there, a man (I'll call him J.) came in to mail a package (the print shop also shipped for UPS or FedEx at that time). It's a very small shop, and he happened to notice Jim's paper that was laying there on the counter, with his business info. on it. Being a very friendly sort of man, he started talking to us and told Jim he might be able to use his help in constructing his new timber frame home. He took Jim's name and phone number, but a few months went by without us hearing from him, so we figured nothing would come of it. One night, out of the blue, Jim got a call from him. I still remember how we were playing Monopoly on the floor of our living room when he called. We were so excited to see God provide work through a "chance" meeting. Over the next months, Jim was able to work for J. off and on, and this was his first taste of timber framing work, which he found that he really enjoyed. Also during the time he worked for J., he was able to witness to him many times. J. is from a Catholic background and pretty much believed that everyone was a "good person" and that good works were enough to get someone to heaven. Anyway, Jim and J. became quite good friends and we prayed for him often during those months, and even for several years afterward. But after the house was done, Jim didn't see him much anymore, and they hadn't been in touch for the past couple of years. We didn't really forget about J., but we did neglect to pray for him as much as we used to.

Fast forward to last Monday night. We got another call from J., out of the blue. His main reason for calling was to tell Jim about a job he had heard about, which he thought Jim might be interested in. But in the course of their conversation, he told Jim that he has accepted Christ! He said that he now has a personal relationship with Jesus. WOW!!! At the time Jim worked for him, we knew that J. had at least one other Christian friend who had been witnessing to him, and now J. is attending a local Baptist church with that friend. We pray that he will be discipled and grow, and we pray that his wife might come to know Christ, too. We were just absolutely thrilled to see this work of God in J's life. To see the power of prayer at work is an awesome thing!!

I also think is it really neat how to see how God used a "chance" meeting (which we know was not really chance!) to bring about work for Jim, a friendship, witnessing opportunities, and eventually allow us to see the fruit. As Paul said, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." (I Cor. 3:7) Our hearts are praising Him!!