I have a story to tell, and I am asking God to help me communicate it well. I loved the first two weeks in our new series on Nehemiah called Rise Up: A Time to Rebuild. Each week, the emphasis has been on HOW TO PRAY during difficult times when nothing seems to be working in our favor. It’s been about faith and trust in God.

I had an occasion to activate my prayer life on Sunday, and I got to see first-hand how God answered my prayer. I need you to know that I don’t always have the experience of an answer to prayer that is so clear, immediate, and significant as I did on Sunday. I took a trip that day to see my mom in Oklahoma, which required a flight connection from Denver to Liberal, Kansas.

As so often happens when traveling through Denver in the summer, there was a weather delay that day. The crazy thing is that instead of Sunday’s delay being caused by a storm in Denver, it was a storm in Liberal that was the culprit. I guess the lightning caused a surge in the small terminal in Liberal that fried a computer that was an essential piece of the flight that day. The computer’s job was to communicate and guide the pilot as he flew the plane toward Liberal. The bottom line is that the flight could not take off until the computer was fixed. The kind gate agent assured us that they were working on it and that the delay would be short. After three hours, they realized that the flight wasn’t going to go so we needed to be rescheduled for a 6:00pm flight. Kimberly and I had already been praying, and of course my mom was praying as well.

As I went to the airline customer service counter – that was understaffed because of COVID cutbacks – I was able to get changed to the 6:00pm flight. As the masked ticket agent was able to finalize my seats, she paused right as I was about to walk away and said, “I will pray for you.” I really sensed at that moment that it was Jesus Himself assuring me that all would be okay.

I ended up having to change terminals for my flight, and finally when it was time to board, there was no mention of the computer problem in Liberal, so I was feeling confident that the Lord was answering my prayers. We were seated on the plane when I saw several gate agents coming up the ramp. My gut jumped as I heard the words about a computer problem in Liberal. We then disembarked the plane and were told we would have to wait until the next day to fly. Of course, because they were able to claim that it was a “weather” problem, there would be no free hotel or transportation. We were on our own. So, I prayed again and sent out a request for more prayer from my family.

And then I overheard a man say that the flight to Dodge City, Kansas was delayed and that if we wanted, they would book us on it, and if we hurried over to another terminal, we might just make it. Several of us took them up on the offer, so I began texting my family to let them know that I would need to be picked up at 10:00pm. This would mean they would be driving an hour and a half further. I then got on the plane and trusted that all would work out. Of course, I prayed again.

When we landed in Dodge City, I turned my phone on and to my dismay, there was no way anyone could come get me (I don’t have space to go into that story, but it involves a major thunderstorm) so I began to pray and ask God for a miracle. I knew my time would be limited to be with my mom, and I wanted every minute to count. It was just not acceptable to me that I would have to spend the night in Dodge City so I prayed again and began to try Uber, Lyft, and a local taxi, but couldn’t find a ride. I was standing in the tiny terminal, alone, when the gate agent came and asked me if I needed help. I told him my situation and how my 81-year-old mom not only was unable to come get me, but she needed me. He looked at me and asked, “How far is it?” I said, “It’s two hours each way.” He looked at me and without any hesitation at all said, “I’ll give you a ride.” “Really?” I said. “It’s two hours each way.” He answered, “As long as I’m back by 8:30 for my shift, it’s all good.” That’s when I heard a still small voice in my head say, “This is the answer to your prayers.” I closed my phone, looked at him and said, “This is part of a greater plan, and I’ll take you up on it. I’ll pay you for your time.” He said, “That’s not necessary. I want to do this.” I said, “It’s raining like crazy out there.” He answered, “I’m not afraid of rain.” Little did we know how big the storm was that we would end up driving through.

When we got in his car, I asked him about himself, and he told me that he played college basketball and was home for the summer. He then said, “Basketball is my love, second only to Jesus.” I could have cried. He was an angel sent from God. He was an answer to prayer.

Folks, this is an example of the power of prayer, but it’s also an example of the presence of God and how He uses others to bless us when we’ve prayed. I have so much more I could talk about, but that’s probably enough. I hope you’ve been listening to this series. When God’s people pray, God moves. Nehemiah was a man who was committed to praying, and the answer to his prayer was a move by God that was miraculous.

I can’t wait to hear as our good friend Fritz Moga speaks on Sunday about the power of God that is released when God’s people work together in unity. The message is called Linking Arms Together. In these divisive times, this message is vital to us carrying out God’s mission as God’s people in this world. I hope you’ll make sure to be there or watch online to hear the words of vision and mission God has for us in these difficult times.

Let me encourage you to go out of your way to support the local businesses in our community. I was so thrilled to see how our Grass Valley city officials closed off streets to make dining and shopping more accessible. This is just one of the many ways I see our community coming together right now to help one another. Let’s do our part to love our neighbors – Because We Care.

Friday, July 24 is our next Drive-Thru Food Drive. Please bring your non-perishable food items and drop them off in the roundabout by the cross that morning from 8:00 – 10:30am. We will have volunteers who will help you unload so that you don’t even have to get out of your car. This is one of the ways we can continue to be the church and serve our community during our COVID-19 log jam.

We’re planning a Family Worship Night just for the families of our church and their kiddos this Sunday evening at 6:30pm. Our Rock Solid Children’s Ministry Team is planning and working to provide a service just for our families of kids from birth to 5th grade. In order to best serve you and be prepared in every way, we need you to register on our website just like we’re doing for Sunday morning. We love our families!

Even though we’re live again in person onsite, it may be weeks before we can all be together again at church, so please make sure to stay engaged online. 

Our services will continue to be streamed live at 9:00 and 11:00am, or you can watch them on demand any time you want right from our website or APP. If you haven’t downloaded the TCC APP, just go to the APP store and search for TCC GRASS VALLEY and download it today.

Joyfully living everyday life on mission in intimacy with Jesus and others,