Our Orchestrated Lives

Our Sunday school teacher is presenting lessons on passages throughout the gospels and studying why they are important enough to be included in the Bible. Obviously, not everything is in the Bible; we have only a portion of Jesus' birth, the story of when He was 12 in the temple, and then the last 3 years of His life.

Yesterday, he presented the journey to Bethlehem. It was very interesting, and in synopsis, his research showed that Mary didn't have to go with Joseph to Bethlehem for the census (as is commonly thought). Because she was pregnant before she got married, she became an outcast even in her own family. Because births in the culture consisted of a midwife and family, Mary went with Joseph because her family wasn't going to help her give birth when her time came. Anyway, the result is that we were talking about how our lives are orchestrated by God. Darryl encouraged us to think about our own lives and their divine orchestration.

This is something that is not new to me. Ryan and I have discussed many times why things have happened in our lives, especially painful events. Here are some of our "orchestrated" events:

• My grandpa passed away from a heart attack when he was 77, causing my parents to make the decision to take over the family farm, which moved us from Ames, IA to Hudson. Had my grandpa lived another 10 years, I would have been independent by the time my parents moved, probably choosing to go to ISU with many of my friends. This would have resulted in Ryan and I not ever meeting.
• As a result of Ryan's parents getting a divorce, he was open-enrolled to Hudson where we first met. This is an interesting orchestration that I do not fully understand, as Ryan and I were at many of the same events throughout JH where we could have met, but didn't. However, meeting in one of those other settings, although most of them "Christian", wouldn't guarantee that we would become such close friends that we would start dating. So, my conclusion is that God wanted us to meet in the setting of Hudson High School. Going to HS together greatly shaped our lives and our relationship toward marriage.
• Throughout Ryan's education at Moody and Trinity, we always wanted to go back and pastor a church in Iowa. Although we interviewed and looked at many possibilities there, even candidating at one church, this never panned out. We even sent Ryan's resume to a school in Des Moines the same time we applied to OCA. It is yet unclear why we are not to be in Iowa.
• We had considered leaving seminary early, with up to 1 year left to complete. However, during all the interviews and candidating weekends we had, none of those churches worked out, and we ended up staying until Ryan was done with on-campus coursework. If we had left in the middle, it is likely that we would have moved back to Chicago after Gothenburg, with Sydney and Isaiah on the way, which would not have been ideal.
• God took us to the middle of Nebraska after seminary. We know of one student who was planning to commit suicide before we came, and didn't because of our arrival and his newfound friendship with Ryan. Our move also resulted in Janelle coming to do her student teaching in Gothenburg, which later led to her working at a camp in Nebraska, where she first met Jeremy Sander, who she would marry a year later.
• We were planted in Arkansas for a year. This resulted in friendships that we carry on yet today, with friends like Dave & Jackie Oaks and the Gossells. Also, we had the privilege of attending Wynne Baptist Church, which I claim as my favorite church we've ever attended.

These are just a few examples of major events that have resulted from God's orchestration in our lives. We continue to ask God's guidance as we make decisions, knowing that things like this will be determined. How has God orchestrated events in your life?