TORNADO PETE JUNE 2019

God Provides, 07/18/19

Ahoy me Maties!  It is a great day to be adventuring.  Pete learned another lesson, about how God works.  It seems if you are available everyday event are tools for His hand to move.

Pete was lounging around on the deck of his sturdy craft when he was hailed by a neighbor, called Game Dame. 

(Note this is the neighbor Pete has been striving to befriend for going on two years.  The same guy who has responded to God’s prompting but has had a hard time getting his sails furled into the wind.  The same guy who just that day Pete thought had blocked his texts only to learn the neighbor had not paid the phone bill.)

Dame needed help to complete a temporary connection between the sink water supply and his washing machine.  He had the hose for the washer and the odd sized sink supply hose and wanted to make something work.  Pete was doubtful that there was any hope except at a large, well-stocked hardware store, something like a supersized Ace, but he did not say so.  He said, “Let’s go look.”

Rejoicing that he had a chance to reconnect with Dame, Pete methodically opened one drawer and cabinet after another.  Dame pelted Pete with questions as collections of unrelated parts were disturbed from their dust covered slumber.  Pete thinks God calls it theology on the run.   As time went by, Pete racked his feeble brain to even imagine what connectors, if he had them, existed to do what was asked.  Eventually when, Pete had exhausted the depth of his meager resources and ideas, the God of creativity and provision stepped in.

The present and active Spirit prompted, “Do you remember that plastic pipe you saw yesterday as you were searching for something else?  Try it.”  Now that piece of pipe was engineered to make a grade school volcano erupt on cue at a science fair some 25 years back.  It had survived 4 moves across 3 states and had no reason to be noticed for this project.  But Pete successfully relocated the piece and “simmer me timbers” but that it was threaded and fit the sink supply hose. 

God then sparked Pete’s memory of a barbed garden hose connector.  It was left over from the sprinkler set up for the new grass.  “Argh”, it was not quite a fit.  But what if……?    Pete and Dame went to the kitchen were a short time over the gas stove encouraged the pipe to allow the barbed fitting to be roughly encouraged to become one with it.  Thus, surprise!  Dame had his transition piece.  The Spirit had fixed the problem and arranged a question and answer time.  He provided all that was needed in the chaos of Pete’s shop to deepen a friendship, create a plumbing fix and proclaim His rule and reign.

What might one take away from a 20-minute interaction with a neighbor?

  1. You never know how God is going to use today, no matter how ineffective or crazy it is. It may just be the key piece for tomorrow.
  2. When challenges arise don’t run or give uprather say, “Let’s go look and let’s try.”
  3. Life is the journeythat God uses to touch lives.  Don’t miss the relationship in the task.
  4. Don’t underestimate what God has already provided in your lifeto make a difference for someone else.
  5. Expect to be usedanywhere at any time.  When you are the ambassador of the Sovereign King you are always on call.

God bless you, Tornado Pete