Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all of that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
-Excerpt from St. Patrick’s breastplate
God before me.
Every year that I have coordinated the Back to School Giveaway (coming up this Saturday VineyardNorthPhoenix.com/BackToSchool) I have asked one of our major donors -Kohl’s- to send volunteers the day before the event to help stuff backpacks.
This year they had a special deal in June, so to receive more donation money I moved dates around.
It was challenging to prepare for this pre-event -it took a lot of planning on my part- and honestly I wondered if all the effort was worth it.
Well it was. After Kohl’s finished up that day I was chatting with my point of contact from Kohl’s. I wondered if I should have the volunteers come back on my regularly scheduled day before the event. At which point I found out they had another event already happening on that day. If we hadn’t done the June organizing we would have lost thousands of dollars for the Back to School Giveaway! Yikes.
Inside I had both a moment of sheer terror and complete relief. God had gone before me to provide. I actually am not in control (imagine that). Jesus had prepared and orchestrated the day those volunteers were coming, I was just one of the instruments in his symphony.
We are such finite human beings and this was such a good reminder for me. It made me remember how infinite my God is.
He knows our thoughts before they’re in our minds. He knows our needs before we do- and He’s not absent- He’s present, active, and involved- because this is His gig. It is me that is a part of His story. He goes before me and prepares the way for the things of His heart.
What a relief.
SOooooo glad to hear this worked out!! Anyone who has led a major event knows the stress involved. Ultimately…we know God is in charge…but it is still …on our minds.
Oh, how I appreciated this blog! Especially this line “I was just one of the instruments in his symphony.”
May God continue to make beautiful music with your precious life and gifts, my dear sister.
So thankful for your testimony of His covering protection. And thank you for all the work you put into the event. (Always love to hear those words by St. Patrick).
I love when God does that. He is just so good to us. Thank you for sharing. Keeping you and the event in my prayers for this weekend.