People

I am a firm believer that God puts people in our lives for a reason.

The reason I mention this is that last night after the crummy movie (see previous post) Kathi and I walked over to Starbucks to get some Joe. Side note: speaking of Starbucks this weeks Opus is awesome. While waiting for the barista to work her magic, a guy I knew from high school (Matt) walked in. He wasn't a close friend or anyone I hung with, I really didn't know him all that well, but I knew his mom and brother. We struck up a conversation, caught up on life, jobs, marriages, kids, church, etc. Seeing Matt reminded me of his mom.

Matt's mom, Judy, was our church's secretary. I got to know her during my last year of high school anf my first couple years of college. Judy and I used to sit and chat while I waited at the church for an event, bible study, or a meeting.

It was during my second year at the community college that I would discuss my next school move with Judy. Judy would always tell me about where her other son was attending college in southern California and that I should go there. He was at Pacific Christian College, a college that was not on my selected list of future schools. She would tell me that I just needed to talk to her son and he would convince me that it was where I should go. I always just blew her idea off.

After a number of conversations I finally caved and told her I would contact the school. To make a long story short, I attended Pacific Christian College that next fall.

During the summer prior to that fall I went on a missions trip with my church to Mexico. The majority of the interns on the trip were PCC students, one of which was my future wife.

I believe that God used Judy to nudge me in the right direction. Prior to hearing about PCC I was looking at state schools in Montana and Arizona. PCC was not even close on the radar.

To this day I remember those conversations and the decisions made without really knowing why they were made. God was ever present during this formative time in my life. I owe Him a great deal of gratitude, and thank Him for using Judy to help guide me in that one important and life changing decision. Without her I wouldn't have Kathi and the kids.