Caution... God moment ahead. If you're not a believer and you don't want to read anything that might sway you to the other side, you may want to skip this story. It's packed full of "Godincidences – those strange coincidences that happen so often I believe they can only be attributed to a Supreme Being who is guiding the universe. I need to rewind to yesterday morning to set the stage.
It all started with a prayer on the 12th floor of Stead Family University of Iowa Children's hospital where I was in the morning with Wilson. This is the place where the sick kids go to watch the University of Iowa Hawkeyes play football. The kids have this awesome view overlooking the stadium. Imagine, you're undergoing treatment and suddenly you get a break from all the procedures to watch your local team. At the end of the 1st quarter, everyone in the stadium (even the opponents), 70,000 strong, pause and wave at you. How cool is that? Well, I sat alone in the prayer/meditation room on the 12th floor and prayed for doors to open for my book projects. Nothing really happened except I got this sense of peace while I sat with my eyes closed. God responded but it was one of those "wait for it" moments that was kind of a delayed reaction to my prayers.
My boss sent me a text message on my way out of the hospital that there was a reimbursement check waiting for me so I changed my route home to make a pit stop at my day job. That's when the magic happened. I noticed this Herky outside of a building that I'd never noticed before. The sunlight was shining at just the right angle to make it stand out as I passed by. I made a quick turn to circle back and get a picture with Wilson. From the road, this Herky appeared like a knight in shining armor. He turned out to be just that... my own personal knight in shining armor. I decided to walk into the building to take a short cut to the silver Herky when I bumped into two men who were seated in the hallway. One of the men stood up to greet me and I said, "Hello, Mark. How are you?" He got this puzzled look on his face and immediately tried to figure out who I was. I was wearing my Shaquille O'Neal sunglasses so that added to the mystery. He was stumped when I said, "Mark, I noticed your name tag." I told him I was a Christian writer. He stunned me when he said, "so am I." He walked into the office and pulled out a copy of his book, "The Way of Nile C. Kinnick, Jr."
Here's the crazy part of the story – Mark and his partner, Bob Stein (also a writer), have been volunteering together as ambassadors at this building for over twenty years. They only work once a week – Monday, for 2 hours. I arrived at the precise time I needed to be there in order to meet these guys and chat with them. They told me I was the most interesting person they had ever met at their building, the University of Iowa Roy G Karro Athletic Hall of Fame. Our conversation ended at 1:00 when their volunteer shift was over. We shook hands and I went outside to get the photo of Wilson and the silver Herky. The picture you see above is definitely going in the book. The photo you see below is of my new writing buddies. Stop in and visit the next time you're around on a Monday between 11 and 1pm.
This is not the first time God has answered my prayers in a way so incredible that I find it impossible not to believe he exists. These two guys I met yesterday are big league writer types. This meeting was not random. It's all part of God's plan. Yes, there is much work ahead. I'm all in. I have all the evidence I need to be convinced God is in charge. By the way, Mark's last name is WILSON! Have a great day.
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