God's Amazing Provision in Trials

The following I copied and pasted with a conversation I had with a friend over Skype. It's a really cool story of how God worked in amazing ways last night when a typical trip to Hungarian falls turned into a real adventure indeed. Sorry for all the awkward formatting with time stamps.


cookingdoggy(cookingdoggy is me):So last night a bunch of my Cru friends wanted to go to a series of waterfalls up here... it's really cool and picturesque
[4:45:55 PM] cookingdoggy: however you spell that
[4:45:59 PM] cookingdoggy: it's call hungarian falls
[4:46:24 PM] cookingdoggy: anyways, I had to go to the evening service at my church and I did and right when church was out, my cru friends left to go to the falls
[4:46:36 PM] cookingdoggy: (they don't go to my church and don't go to any other evening services so they weren't with me)
[4:46:57 PM] cookingdoggy: and so I invited my high school friends at my church to go too, only they had to eat first which took a while and then they said they would come
[4:47:12 PM] cookingdoggy: we finally head out about half an hour later than the others or even longer than that...
[4:47:24 PM] cookingdoggy: and my high school friends went in 2 vehicles
[4:47:54 PM] cookingdoggy: one group went first (my car), and the other group were gonna go pick up some other friends and meet us there
[4:48:13 PM] cookingdoggy: well on the road to the waterfalls, there are two turn-offs, one with a gate and one without
[4:48:18 PM] Timothy Wallace begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting: ok
[4:48:34 PM] cookingdoggy: and so I went up the the usual crusade one that apparently my high school friends didn't know about
[4:48:43 PM] cookingdoggy: with a couple of my highschool friends in my car
[4:48:54 PM] cookingdoggy: then we waited a bit but didn't see them so we didn't know where they went
[4:49:06 PM] cookingdoggy: we decided to finally get out and walk down the trail a bit
[4:49:24 PM] cookingdoggy: now this is going to be hard to keep track of the rest of this until you have a good sense of what it looks like
[4:49:31 PM] Timothy Wallace: ok lol
[4:49:46 PM] cookingdoggy: so the main road is sorta parallel to the the waterfall/river but a distance a way from it
[4:50:00 PM] cookingdoggy: we were at the north entrance and walked west towards the waterfall
[4:50:07 PM] Timothy Wallace: ok
[4:50:44 PM] cookingdoggy: once we finally just about got to the water, there was a fork in the road and my friends who were with me didn't want the others to get lost so they turned around RIGHT before we got to my cru friends where they were
[4:50:58 PM] cookingdoggy: I was like... "They're right here, why don't you meet them first"
[4:51:10 PM] cookingdoggy: but they wouldn't, and I guess that was ok
[4:51:20 PM] cookingdoggy: so they went back towards the car to see if they showed up there yet
[4:51:32 PM] cookingdoggy: meanwhile, there was a further north waterfall that my friend wanted to show me
[4:51:46 PM] cookingdoggy: so I went with him and saw it and it was sweet...
[4:52:10 PM] cookingdoggy: then i went back and looked for my friends but they weren't there at the car so I figured they walked along the road towards the other entrance to find them
[4:52:18 PM] cookingdoggy: so I walked back towards the river to find them
[4:52:21 PM] Timothy Wallace: lol
[4:52:41 PM] cookingdoggy: oh wait... right before I ran to the car, I walked south a bit and found the rest of the cru friends again
[4:52:48 PM] Timothy Wallace: ok
[4:52:53 PM] cookingdoggy: so I ran to my car and then ran back figuring I'd me them as they hiked up the waterfall
[4:53:03 PM] cookingdoggy: or... along side it
[4:53:08 PM] Timothy Wallace: right
[4:53:24 PM] cookingdoggy: well, I did meet them right where I thought I would... my whole high school group, but then all the cru people were gone
[4:53:26 PM] cookingdoggy: i was like... what?
[4:53:29 PM] cookingdoggy: haha
[4:53:45 PM] cookingdoggy: then I went exploring around with my high school friends a bit and showed them some of the cool places
[4:53:52 PM] cookingdoggy: and it was getting darker
[4:54:10 PM] cookingdoggy: at one point, I saw a couple of cru friends seperated from the rest and asked them where everyone else was
[4:54:33 PM] cookingdoggy: they told me that one of my friends named Cory took a slip and slid like 30 feet down a steep hill and tumbled down
[4:54:41 PM] cookingdoggy: he got hurt pretty bad and his arm was fractured
[4:54:53 PM] cookingdoggy: so they told me the rest headed back to the hospital and they were heading out
[4:55:28 PM] cookingdoggy: well, I figured I'd head back and finish up with my high school friends and we got back to my car right when it was getting really dark
[4:55:49 PM] cookingdoggy: I decided that I would drive alongside my other friends as they walked down the road south to where they parked their cars
[4:55:53 PM] cookingdoggy: got everything so far?
[4:56:03 PM] Timothy Wallace: yes
[4:56:04 PM] cookingdoggy: ok
[4:56:19 PM] cookingdoggy: so when I got back to my car, I noted that one of the crusade vehicles was still there and I thought they had all left
[4:56:36 PM] cookingdoggy: well anyways, we got to the other entrance towards the waterfall and got to my friends car
[4:56:47 PM] Timothy Wallace: ok...the high school friend
[4:56:52 PM] cookingdoggy: yeah
[4:56:57 PM] cookingdoggy: i was with my high school friends still
[4:57:02 PM] Timothy Wallace: right
[4:57:03 PM] cookingdoggy: i was "escorting them to their car"
[4:57:25 PM] cookingdoggy: and we got there... but yet another one of my high school friends apparently showed up and must have been looking for us somewhere
[4:57:34 PM] cookingdoggy: so we waited a little bit and started calling him
[4:57:38 PM] Timothy Wallace: ok
[4:57:39 PM] cookingdoggy: his name was Justin
[4:57:54 PM] cookingdoggy: we called out "JUSTIN" really loud and we heard a girl respond
[4:58:10 PM] cookingdoggy: there was another girl and guy there and the guy's name was Justin but it wasn't the right Justin
[4:58:11 PM] cookingdoggy: haha
[4:58:16 PM] Timothy Wallace: lol
[4:58:51 PM] cookingdoggy: but as I was looking for my high school friend Justin, and it was dark at this point... my Cru friend Joe showed up running around and I thought they had left at that point
[4:59:15 PM] cookingdoggy: aparently, this whole time, my friend Cory that got hurt was still on the side of the hill and they were helping him out the best they could when he broke his arm
[4:59:15 PM] Timothy Wallace: lol ok
[4:59:38 PM] Timothy Wallace: so they hadn't left for the hospital yet like the other group thought?
[4:59:45 PM] cookingdoggy: yeah
[5:00:05 PM] cookingdoggy: so then I told my high school friends that I was gonna run up the path north up the waterfall/river
[5:00:33 PM] cookingdoggy: and that I would be back in a couple of minutes
[5:00:42 PM] cookingdoggy: i followed Joe along this trail to see what was going on
[5:00:48 PM | Edited 5:01:15 PM] Timothy Wallace: okok
[5:01:10 PM] cookingdoggy: I got way down the trail and another Cru friend named Andy was looking for a backpack that fell down a cliff that had a camera and a rope in it in the river but he couldn't see because it was dark
[5:01:23 PM] cookingdoggy: well I had a little keychain flashlight LED thingy and I used that to help him out
[5:01:30 PM] cookingdoggy: meanwhile, I heard the other guys helping out Cory
[5:01:48 PM] cookingdoggy: and I decided to try to crawl up the hill to see if I could help them out with some light
[5:02:05 PM] cookingdoggy: we left the bag for the night and they went and found it today...
[5:02:36 PM] cookingdoggy: anyways, so as I was climbing up this really steep hill I found myself on this little patch of dirt that was giving way and there were no trees to grab onto
[5:02:49 PM] cookingdoggy: as I started to fall down the hill
[5:02:58 PM] Timothy Wallace: oh boy
[5:03:17 PM] cookingdoggy: and then I kinda ran into a tree, but wasn't going to fast so I was fine at that point
[5:03:35 PM] cookingdoggy: it was really muddy as it has rained recently but there were leaves on top so it was deceiving
[5:04:20 PM] cookingdoggy: so anyways, I finally found the path that I had been on which was really close to the water at the bottom of the hill and finally found where Cory was
[5:04:47 PM] cookingdoggy: they asked me to find the trail i took to get there because it was easier to get Cory down the hill to that trail rather than going up the hill any farther
[5:04:59 PM] Timothy Wallace: right
[5:05:01 PM] cookingdoggy: so by using ropes and my flashlight, they were able to get down through much difficulty
[5:05:11 PM] cookingdoggy: there were like 5 other guys there too
[5:05:26 PM] cookingdoggy: but one guy's flashlight died and the only other one they had was really dim
[5:05:39 PM] cookingdoggy: so they couldn't see anything without my little LED keychain which was surprisingly bright
[5:05:49 PM] Timothy Wallace: yea they are
[5:06:16 PM] cookingdoggy: and we got down to the path to walk like the quarter mile back along the river South towards my car using my light as a guide
[5:06:24 PM] cookingdoggy: which is like the only good light they had
[5:06:32 PM] cookingdoggy: going very slowly cuz Cory was in pain
[5:06:32 PM] Timothy Wallace: cool
[5:06:40 PM] Timothy Wallace: was he walking?
[5:06:45 PM] Timothy Wallace: or did he hurt his leg too/
[5:06:54 PM] cookingdoggy: his legs were ok which was good
[5:06:56 PM] cookingdoggy: so he was walking
[5:06:58 PM] Timothy Wallace: yea
[5:07:11 PM] cookingdoggy: so I didn't know about that trail either until I used it to find them
[5:07:34 PM] cookingdoggy: we FINALLY made it back to my car and all my high school friends had left as it took like half an hour or more to get back
[5:07:44 PM] cookingdoggy: My car was ready to take Cory to the hospital
[5:07:48 PM] cookingdoggy: and his Mom was up for mothers day
[5:07:57 PM] cookingdoggy: but there is no cell phone signal out at that waterfall
[5:07:57 PM] Timothy Wallace: ha so everyone left in the other car?
[5:08:16 PM] cookingdoggy: well another guy ran to get his other car which was farther away and took the rest of them that couldn't fit into my car
[5:08:25 PM] Timothy Wallace: oh ok
[5:08:33 PM] cookingdoggy: but it was good my car was there so Cory wouldn't have to go any farther
[5:08:37 PM] Timothy Wallace: yeah
[5:08:45 PM] cookingdoggy: and it was good my high school friends left so I would have room for more people
[5:08:51 PM] Timothy Wallace: haha true
[5:09:06 PM] cookingdoggy: we got him to the hospital and finally to a good cell phone spot so he could call his mom
[5:09:09 PM] cookingdoggy: and she met us up there
[5:09:28 PM] cookingdoggy: then he got a cat scan cuz he bumped his head and an x-ray, so it took a while and we left while his mom stayed
[5:09:49 PM] Timothy Wallace: sounds like a crazy night haha
[5:09:51 PM] cookingdoggy: so that yesterday evening for me... but here's the cool part...:
[5:10:23 PM] cookingdoggy: I didn't know about that lower entrance to the waterfall and never would have parked my car there if it wasn't for my high school friends going there with me and that trail would have been unknown to all of us
[5:10:35 PM] cookingdoggy: and they wouldn't have had my keychain light either
[5:10:40 PM] Timothy Wallace: yeah
[5:10:42 PM] Timothy Wallace: hero! haha
[5:10:48 PM] cookingdoggy: so God put me exactly where everything would work out great!
[5:10:57 PM] cookingdoggy: it's really unbelievable how it all worked out
[5:11:05 PM] Timothy Wallace: yeah
[5:11:08 PM] Timothy Wallace: it's cool though
[5:11:17 PM] cookingdoggy: definitely!
[5:11:20 PM] Timothy Wallace: he's got it under control
[5:11:27 PM] cookingdoggy: that He does
[5:11:36 PM] cookingdoggy: now you can see why I kinda wanted to tell you over the phone
[5:11:45 PM] cookingdoggy: cuz it's a long story with a lot of details
[5:11:49 PM] cookingdoggy: but i think i covered it all
[5:12:20 PM] Timothy Wallace: sweet
[5:12:25 PM] Timothy Wallace: well thanks for typing it all out haha
[5:12:30 PM] cookingdoggy: and we just found out while I was telling you this story that he only fractured his arm in a couple of places but the rest of his body is fine other than a few bumps and bruises
[5:12:34 PM] Timothy Wallace: now copy and paste it for the next person so you don' thave to retype haha
[5:12:47 PM] cookingdoggy: haha, i wish I wrote that in a blog
[5:12:53 PM] cookingdoggy: maybe I will eventually


... and I did and that is what you just read. How cool is it that God works through things so well and we so often worry about circumstances out of our control. When things are out of our control, they are in God's control and we have nothing to worry about.

Our God truly is an Awesome God!

This past Thursday was a HUGE day for me in my life. I had so many things to do and typically it would have been overwhelming.

Let me start out with a little background on the big event. At Campus Crusade's large group meeting (TNT - Thursday Night Thing), we came upon the week of sophomore takeover. That means the sophomore class runs everything at TNT including someone giving the main talk for the night. Now as a class we were discussing who would give the talk. I knew one kid in particular, Mike Baumgartner, would want to give a talk, because he does nothing but talk about God and is always in the Word which is what I need to be like. I think it's awesome. I have a HUGE fear of public speaking. I'd rather die I think... now that's a slight exaggeration, but you catch my drift.

However, earlier this summer when I read about Hezekiah, I thought it was so good that in the FAR future, I might wanna give a talk on it if I became more bold or something so I had started working on a talk about Hezekiah. Well anyways, going back to Mike Baumgartner, he said that he had a talk he would like to do if nobody else wanted to, so of course, I was gonna let him do it like everyone else. Well, Mike is an RA in a residence hall, and he had some meeting that came up that he HAD to attend. Therefore, he couldn't give his talk at TNT. Now somebody had to step up.

Now I had told Devin I was working on the Hezekiah speech for much later and he said that since I already got a start on it that I should give the talk. He said he could give the talk if nobody else wanted to. Nobody in the group volunteered, but I didn't want to make the decision right away and pray about it, so I told the group that Devin and I would decide between ourselves who would do it so we wouldn't leave everybody hanging.

So, I went up to Devin a few days later and asked him if he had anything he wanted to give a talk on and he said no. I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to give the talk on Hezekiah since the Lord really laid it on my heart to share it with people and then I would have the opportunity to share it with many at once. One reason that made me feel like I could do it is that 2 weeks before, I gave a short testimony at TNT and I didn't feint, however I was very nervous. I knew I could handle it though and if God was calling me to do it, I needed to take that step of faith.

So now I had the responsibility of making this talk more lengthy and polished from the bit I had started on in a much shorter time than I was going to give it, but I knew that if God called me to speak it, then I would be able to get it done.

It was about a week later making it a few days before my talk that I found out something absolutely amazing. Mike Baumgartners meeting... well, it was canceled. Do you think that that is an accident? Accidents don't happen with God. God used the meeting to lead me to give the talk, then canceled it so Mike could come and hear it. How awesome is that?

Alright, so the Thursday of the talk finally rolls around... getting back to the beginning of the post. I had been praying since I knew I was giving it that God would remove my fear of public speaking. I usually get really really nervous and become more reserved and I feel like I can't be effective in a talk when I'm barely able TO talk. My talk was generally about prayer and I figured I should pray about it a lot, so I did. Along with the talk to do, I had an exam the next day, a presentation the next day in another class and a 5 page research paper to do before Monday. I knew that I needed to focus on my talk because God showed me Luke 12 that day that said somewhere in it: Do not worry what you should eat or what you should drink, but seek the kingdom of God and all these things should be added unto you. That's a paraphrase but it's in there. I knew that if I focused on the talk which was the most important that God would enable me to do the other things adequately.

So I decided to forget about the other things and work on just the talk and pray about it. So, it comes to an hour before the talk, and having gone through it with a couple of other people, I felt pretty comfortable with it. I had been praying that God would remove my fear and all nervousness. Well, wouldn't ya know? I got up in front of everyone without a bit of nervousness. I was able to present it like I was talking to someone individually. It was NOTHING short of a miracle if you understood my personality. God worked through me. Without God answering my prayer, I would have been a nervous wreck and ineffective. People came up to me after and said I did a good job and people I could tell for the most part got something out of it. All glory goes to God because without God, none of that would be possible.

Now that night, I was able to finish off the presentation and present it well the next day and I did much better in the exam than I should have I think... I haven't gotten my score back, but I was able to remember more things than I should have, so that was another answer to prayer.

Quickly to go back to Luke 12, I don't want to leave this out. Right before I read that chapter, I was thinking about how I am running out of money and can't really afford to be buying food. Well, when it said don't worry about what you should eat or what you should drink, it really hit home knowing that God's Word is truth. Since then He's been providing me with food in all sorts of different ways including Mike Baumgartner "suddenly having the idea" to swipe me into the dining halls on a day I didn't eat lunch and was very hungry. I went to visit him 2 minutes before he was gonna eat and he was going to actually ask me that very day. Do you think something like that is coincidence? No way. Prayer is powerful and effective and God is great and uses us in our weakness.

It also reminds me of a sermon I heard of God using us in our weakness a few days before my talk and it applied to me so closely. God really worked through me in a public speaking situation which is a definite weakness so all the Glory could go to Him! How awesome is that?!

Congratualations if you read this whole post. I truly thank you for it and I'll be praying that God's glory will shine through it and it will be an encouragement both to you and to me when I look back it it later on. Until next time, God Bless!

I've been thinking...

First of all, God is so good! Lately I've been doing a lot of pondering. God is in control of everything, so why do we worry about anything. If we are truly focused on God and doing everything to His glory, then what could actually be bad? Sure there may be difficulties and trials, but God has not promised us freedom from those here on earth.

I guess lately I've just been feeling like I have this rich inner world that's waiting to explode. I want to show people what's going on in my mind, but it takes some time to explain it. I'm introverted and recharge on my own or one on one in conversations. I love deep conversations with people, but I want them to have a positive focus. Sure, if someone is going through a rough time, I want to hear them out and try to help them. For those following God, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

There are many times when people are talking in large groups and I want to speak up, but something holds me back. Maybe I feel like what I have to say, not everyone is going to enjoy, so I feel like I'm wasting people's time? I don't know, but I think I need to step out of my box a bit and try some public speaking at Campus Crusade sometime, or at least speak up in my rather large cell group (Bible Study + tons more stuff). Maybe the Holy Spirit is leading me to speak and I'm ignoring it.

Please pray that I'll be able to manage my time well. I really want to build relationships with new freshmen this year. I want to encourage people. A little bit of genuine encouragement someone gives to me usually carries me through a lot, so little things that I can say to others or show them that I care, which I do... those things are what really make a difference. It's about being personable, a good listener, but also a good friend who tries to be there for people, whether it's offering them help with something, or praying for them. That's the kind of person I want to be. What's great is that being this kind of person is impossible on my own. I know I can't do it by myself, but God is Great, and He works all things together for good for those that love Him. Putting God first in your life solves a lot of problems. I have a long way to go, but having such great friends who are there for me to hear me out and encourage me, helps me out a lot.

Thanks for reading. There's a little peak at my thoughts for ya.