Cloud By Day

I am so excited….to write and share this post. I have a “Grave Robber” moment to share!!!!!!!!!!

This past fall I read another of Mark Batterson’s books, “The Grave Robber!” If you didn’t know, he is one of my all time favorite writers and mentors from afar because of his wisdom and personal experience with God! As I read the book, it strengthened my faith in the largest way. I bought four books and asked all of our kids to read it as well. I know for sure Thomas read it. We have discussed it many times now.

The book unpacks the book of John in the Bible and looks at the miracles Jesus performed. Mark has influenced me to see Jesus today, in 2015, and look for all the daily miracles God is performing. God is out of the box in my life and in my mind and I am seeing miracles daily. I call them “grave robber moments!” I get excited every time I experience one personally. When miracles happen to our family and our kids, I feel like I have been “shot out of a cannon”. It literally takes my breath and makes my heart jump!!! Actually… seeing the hand of God in your life in….. ordinary moments.

If you follow my blog at all, you know our middle son, Thomas, is pursuing a career in professional golf. The odds of him making it are minute. To say the least, the odds are majorly STACKED against him when you take a realistic look. It would take too long to explain here so you just have to trust me when I say the odds are not in his favor.

We have been seeking God every step of the way. It is a very expensive endeavor. Thomas knows the odds and the LONG…and very LONELY road…but he knows this is what God has told him to do. Sometimes, when it is really hard, doubts creep in and Satan’s voice is loud…in saying:
“You can’t do this!”,
“You’re not good enough”,
“Your swing is way off,”
“Your a long way off”.

People even walk up to him and discourage him by sharing their doubts and negativity. So with that being said, I have enlisted a small army of people who pray for T as he travels this path. They are very faithful to pray for Thomas to see and know God’s voice in his life. The same people pray for Brewer and Collins as well.

I shared just a month ago about Thomas turning pro and the “grave robber” moment he had back in November and December in his first tournament as a professional, in case you missed it, I will post it again. I want everyone to follow these moments because God isn’t just teaching our family, I know He…wants others to SEE the tiny miracles of assurance He gives when ordering our steps and we follow Him even when we don’t see the end. Most of all, I want you to SEEK to follow Christ and have Him assure you daily of His presence and His individual plan for YOU! It doesn’t at all mean it will be easy, but it gives you Godfidence!

Here’s the most recent “grave robber” moment.

Recently, Thomas and Bill traveled to Sea Island, Georgia, where his teacher, Hank Smith, resides and works at Fredricka. I will share later how we found Hank. It is another “graverobber” moment. But on with the story…Thomas was scheduled to work with Hank off and on for the whole weekend. On Sunday, the last day, Thomas met a guy on the range; his name is Jeff.

Thomas said Jeff was a nice guy, a stranger, who stopped to introduce himself and asked Thomas his plans for the future. So Thomas shared with him the disappointment of not making it through Q-school and said he was playing the e-golf mini tour this year. As they were talking, they were asked to leave the range because it was closing. As Thomas and Jeff picked up their bags to leave, he turned to Jeff and said, “Oh yes, I forgot to mention I am heading to Florida in April to try and qualify for the Canadian PGA tour.”

Jeff suddenly stopped walking and put down his bag and said, “Me too! But I didn’t get the Florida site, I was assigned to go to the qualifier in California. Wait just a minute. I have something for you!” Jeff reached into his bag! Thomas wondered what it could be. Jeff pulled out a yardage book from the champions tour of the course where Thomas will be qualifying in April in Florida. Since Jeff had been assigned the California site, he would no longer need the book so he gave it to Thomas. What are the odds of that happening? Slim very slim. NOT a coincidence! You see, this was a special yardage book with potential “gold” to a player. It had greater and more detailed information about the course Thomas would be playing than the normal yardage book has.

A very special gift from a stranger! The most amazing thing when Thomas was recounting the “grave robber” moment to me was the fact that Thomas said, “Mom, I almost didn’t mention the qualifier for Canada to him”….Thomas said they had finished talking and as he was walking away….he suddenly looked back over his shoulder and said, “Oh yeah..I am also trying to qualify for the Canada PGA.”

The real story is this……pay attention here. We miss things like this and I don’t want you to miss it. Thomas didn’t miss it, it was pretty unique and another “out of the blue” moment for him. Here is the grave robber moment for Thomas: God’s overwhelming confirmation that Thomas was for sure walking the path God has for Him. In his mind, meeting Jeff confirmed that he was to attempt to qualify for the Canadian tour and be at the Florida site. If Thomas could have picked the best scenario to fulfill his dream and God’s plan, this would not be it, but a series of events led him to try and qualify and now once again, God’s reassurance was covering Thomas’ heart. “Your ways are higher!” I know there was a time in my life when I missed moments like these. I just didn’t see them for what they are.

I am a God follower. I can tell you this was not a moment of coincidence but of God reassuring Thomas of his steps. YOU KNOW WHY??? I have been specific with asking our Heavenly Father to clearly show Thomas burning bush, graverobber moments of affirmation of his steps. To develop in Thomas’ “eyes” the ability to see Jesus in every part of his life. For Psalm 141:8 to be true. “But my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord;…” For God to show up and show out and that Thomas would see HIM and be able to “give an account!” To testify to God leading his life, even in the small things.

You see, we have talked with Thomas about whatever God is leading him to do. No matter what that looks like, the most important thing he can do in life is to play golf for an audience of One. To take Jesus with him. For his purpose to be to bring glory to Jesus in all of his golf–the wins, the losses, the made cuts and the missed cuts. If he cannot be a “tool of Jesus in golf,” then it is for nothing! It has to be about God…not him! For His glory, not self-fame.

God hasn’t shown me far into Thomas’ future but he has shown me that HE WILL GUIDE HIM. HE will provide and, all along the way, HE will assure him of the steps. Since Thomas was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, I have seen God in the most amazing ways. Sometimes visibly caring for Thomas. Literally, in some of the most scary times, the supernatural has occurred and we as a family KNEW IT WAS GOD in Thomas’ life. ONLY one set of footprints and they weren’t Thomas’. God carried him.

Let me just stop and say here…Thomas is not a perfect person. He struggles with sin, temptation, etc. But in his young life at 23, HE IS SEEING God in a major way. He is gaining God-fidence! Every day God continues to show me that He has Thomas and Brewer and Collins. Every day I am praying for “grave robber” moments in my life and in our family so that I can give an account of JESUS and that our kids can truly see Christ…guiding them. I feel as if God is providing a “cloud by day,” and a “pillar of fire by night!”

I want to point to HIM. HE is the One. I encourage you……SEEK CHRIST TODAY…WITH ALL YOUR HEART. HE promises in Scripture, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). May Psalm 119:10 be your prayer. ‘With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!”

Stayed tuned. I know that I know that I know that I will have more “graverobber moments” to share. That is the God I serve…the omnipotent, omnipresent God. The Holy One…to HIM be all Glory honor and praise!!!!

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