Chasing Lions and Wild Geese

When I started writing this we were approaching a year since my wife, Lorenda, and I had been reunited, it's now a couple days past that date. Prior to that we had been separated for over two years. Shortly before our separation I began my search for God, not the God I wanted, or imagined, but the God who is. I believe Lorenda started her search shortly after our separation. We attempted to reconcile several times in that two years, but the pain and recollections of our individual offenses were much too closely held for that to take place. God's timing is nothing like our timing, his is perfect and he wanted us to know, with all certainty, that he was the one bringing us back together. We had completed the divorce papers and they had been filed, I think we were drawing near the end of a 60 day, court established, cooling off period when God, at the last minute, decided to change the outcome of our lives. Face now, the miraculous. After returning to Arizona, from my daughter Ashley's graduation in Spokane, we were two days away from a date that I had set as the "drop dead" date for our divorce. We had traveled together to and from Spokane, but stayed separate while we were there. The trip did not go well, and we fought through much of it. We had missed Church that week, our Church which we shared, although we had been attending separate services. When we returned home we were both informed of a sermon our Pastor had preached the week we were in Spokane and we both decided to listen to it on the Internet, separately. The day after Lorenda heard the sermon, the day of the "drop dead date", Lorenda moved home. You might ask; is that the miracle? Well, I believe it was a miracle, but that's not all. It's like the Lord God of Hosts erased my hard drive; I had no recollection of the things Lorenda had done over the years to offend me. I Was Free! Shortly after that, in a meeting with our Pastor to arrange our baptisms, Lorenda said that she did struggle with how I had offended her in the past, but not to a degree that she could not overcome, through the grace of God. If you're familiar with offense, unforgiveness and how Satan uses them against us, you'll understand the miraculous nature of what had occurred. Almost a year later now, and I'm living a life I don't deserve, with a wife I don't deserve, in God's mercy and grace which I certainly don't deserve. Praise The Lord!  

Now, every morning I wake up, read a daily devotional, the Word of God and some particular Christian book of interest. Lorenda reads the Word of God, and a particular Christian book of interest to her. Just the other day, Lorenda was reading "In a Pit, with a Lion, on a Snowy Day, by Mark Batterson. The title of the book is taken from 2 Samuel 23, 20:23 about Benaiah, chief of King David's body guard. I was reading the sequel to that book, "Wild Goose Chase" by Mark Batterson. The title for that book was taken from the Celtic Christian's word for the Holy Spirit, An Geadh-Glas, or The Wild Goose. I had finished my reading and was sitting out on the patio alone with God, when Lorenda came out, kissed me hard on the lips and proclaimed "you are a lion chaser; often people think you're crazy and you have no fear of uncertainty". I guess that's right, but not me, God's Holy Spirit who lives within me. I don't need to know where I'm going, because I'm chasing the Wild Goose. There is no reason to fear, because God is with me. God knows where I'm going and that's enough. What's so wonderful is that she seems perfectly content to travel that adventure with me, right by my side. Where could one find a wife like that?

I'm no stranger to risk, but reuniting with my wife was the greatest risk of my life, to date. I didn't take that risk on my own authority, rather in obedience to God. Our reunion must have been a huge risk for Lorenda as well. Obedience to God produces God's blessings upon us. I'm seeing the blessings of my obedience every day. So, the journey begins anew, and I couldn't be more content or feel more blessed.