So much has happened in our region and country in the past 12 months.
The drought, the fires, and now the virus. Bad news abounds.
But no matter what we face, it’s time to shine. Time to be the one who’s still smiling, who offers hope, who sees someone in need and stops to help and who lives not in fear, but in peace. Someone who works on the solution rather than being overwhelmed by the problem.
For Rick and I, our hope is in Christ, Jesus. The bible refers to “a peace which surpasses understanding” and that’s what we experience in Him. Life can throw all sorts of curve balls, but we choose to trust Him and live in His peace. It’s an awesome state to be in. I’ve really felt it in the past during times like when Rick told me he wanted to quit his full time engineering job and start farming. He suggested borrowing money to set up Birdsong, and I honestly thought we could lose the property if it failed. But I prayed and chose to trust Jesus. Property or no property. And now, 3 years into running Birdsong, it’s doing quite well.
Then there was 2018, when Rick broke his neck (C1) in a chainsaw/tree lopping accident, and I sat in emergency beside him, while he was strapped to the bed and we waited to hear from the spinal team in Brisbane whether his fracture was stable. One doctor told me that theoretically, Rick should have been dead after that accident. But I wasn’t scared, and chose to trust. Many wonderful friends and family were praying for Rick’s healing, many friends and even Birdsong customers supported us with meals, offers of farm help and much more. There was no need to fear. Many people were praying, and a year later, we can’t even tell he ever had the accident. He’s healed.
One more amusing example was our engagement. Many of you probably don’t know that Rick and I never dated before we married. And it wasn’t an arranged marriage by our parents either. I’d met Rick’s mum at church, and she invited me to a prayer group her son Rick was holding in his home each week. I had no idea who he was, but my cousin Steve was going, so I went along with him. Months later, after attending this group each week, I was going to bed and heard God speak to me. He told me I was going to marry Rick. I actually cried myself to sleep with the shock. I hadn’t been expecting that at all! I asked Him what I should do and He didn’t say anything. ‘Ok, I won’t do anything then’, I thought. I had no doubt that God had spoken to me, and that He was perfectly capable of bringing this to pass without my interference. So I kept up life as usual, and about 6 months later, Rick turned up on my doorstep. As it turned out, he’d rode up our street couple of times that morning, and then turned back, not sure if he was game to say what he wanted to say! He eventually got to the front door, knocked and I answered. He asked if I wanted to go out for coffee, to which I answered that I didn’t drink coffee (then realised that was a stupid answer…haha). So we arranged to meet up at a place I was housesitting later that week.
He arrived there looking very preoccupied with thought. Before long, Rick took the plunge and asked me if God had told me who I was going to marry (by the way, we didn’t personally know anyone who had got engaged this way, it wasn’t at all the norm).
“Yes” I answered.
“Have you met him yet?” he pursued.
“Yes” I answered.
A smile came across his face as he then asked “It’s me isn’t it?”
“Yes” I answered again. The funniest part came next, when Rick wondered aloud “But do you even like me?” I really hadn’t give him any indication, as I was intent on letting God bring to pass what He told me He was going to do without any manipulation from me!
So we were engaged that night, Rick rode straight off to my parents place to ask my Dad’s permission. I was 20 and he was 21…and we were married about 3 months later.
I clearly remember the shock from one of my friends as she said “But how do you KNOW?” (referring to marrying someone so unexpectedly like that, or knowing that it was God that had spoken to me). It’s that peace which ‘surpasses understanding.’ I had no doubt in my mind, even though for most, it looked like madness. And that was almost 16 years ago 🙂
I love how constant God is, “the same yesterday, today and forever,” the bible says. So no matter what’s going on in the world or how messy life gets, He is still faithful, still listening, still ready to forgive and to offer His love, hope and peace to His children.