Last week, my wife and I attended The KidMin Nation Mega-Con (children’s ministry conference) in Nashville, led by our friends Ryan & Beth Frank. This was a conference that promised to be the most audacious, out of the box KidMin conference ever… and in my opinion, it definitely lived up to its name. The level of professionalism, organization, and practical ministry content was second to none, as was the heart of those behind it. We left greatly encouraged and well equipped to minister in even greater ways than before.
And part of the hype surrounding the conference was the fact that they were giving away the keys to a 2017 Chevy Malibu to one of over 1600 children’s pastors in attendance. And even better yet, my lovely wife, Charity, was chosen to be the winner of that car! (You can watch her win the car here.)
And if the simple fact that they were giving away a car wasn’t impressive enough, coming to find out that the two couples who spearheaded the conference, Ryan & Beth Frank, and Martijn & Amy Van Tilborgh, actually used personal funds to purchase this car and give it as a gift was mind-blowing and very humbling.
While we are currently relishing in the way that God has chosen to bless our family, I can’t think of a better or more deserving person than my lovely wife, Charity, to be honored with such a gift.
While I don’t brag on her nearly as often as I could, today is different. For the past 16 years, she has served alongside me in the full-time children’s ministry and been the most selfless, servant-hearted person I have ever known. She serves, and serves, and serves some more. Most often behind the scenes and in the shadows, yet she is making ministry successful on so many levels. She constantly sacrifices of herself to meet the needs of others in both her family and ministry, even when it often comes at a high personal cost of her own time, convenience, and resources.
Prayer changes things…
When it was announced many months ago that this car would be given away at this conference, my wife began to pray. You see, for some time now, she has been saving up her extra money to purchase a small, more fuel efficient car for her to get around in. Due to unforeseen family circumstances, she’s been driving a lot of extra miles lately, and so she was hoping and praying that God would bring along something more practical and economical.
In addition, we had recently started looking for an additional vehicle for our son who is starting Driver’s Ed this month. In fact, the day before winning the Malibu, I had found a potential car online for us to purchase and showed it to Charity.
God’s plans are better than our own…
Well, God decided that He had something far different and far better in mind!
I remember telling one of my kids at the conference that, “Whoever God wants to have that car will be the person who wins it.” And sure enough, God chose to bless my beautiful wife with that new car!
So, as we sat down as a family this past weekend to discuss our blessings, it was a special time to reflect upon God’s goodness in our lives in so many ways. And we walked away with these few thoughts:
- God is good, all the time. Car, or no car, our family has been abundantly blessed far beyond what we deserve.
- God makes no mistakes. Mom won the car because God wanted mom to win the car.
- Good gifts are “God” gifts. Every blessing in our life both big and small has come from the hand of God.
God has blessed our family in so many ways so many times, and yet, He has chosen to bless us yet again. And this time, specifically, He blessed my wife, and for that, I am truly thankful.
Isn’t it about time that your family sat down together and discussed the blessings of God in your lives as well?
Because regardless of whether or not you ever win a car, God has chosen to bless each and every one of us abundantly in more ways than we could ever count.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father…
