Sometimes life happens. And it hurts. Real bad. And you don't understand why. Yet despite the chaos, you can't help but believe that God's totally got it under control.
Last night, something happened that absolutely no one in my family expected.
I happened to be in the same room of the same Berkeley apartment as my cousin and sister when the news broke. I live in the Eastbay while the rest of my relatives and immediate family live at least an hour away. The three of us haven't hung out together in over a year. We weren't even planning on seeing each other that night...but we did anyways. Immediately after we heard the news, we left the room as a family. The three oldest cousins on my dad's side. We cried. Prayed. Praised.
And then we went to Cafe Milano for coffee and hot chocolate and reminisced over our fondest family memories.
I could've mourned alone, but instead, God gave me people. Family. At just the right time.
This morning, I was planning on attending this conference that I've been looking forward to for months. You have no idea how excited I've been...simply because I knew Francis Chan was speaking. My sister came with me.
We drove into SF, parked my car in the Tenderloin and got so sketched out by the neighborhood at 8am. After checking in and getting our t-shirts, I called home to talk to my dad again. He insisted that he was okay.
After hanging up, I asked my sister what we should do.
I am humbled by her wisdom and obedience to the Lord.
She replied, "God brings family...together."
Immediately, I thought of what had happened the night before. How God had perfectly orchestrated everything so that my cousin, sister and I were together, and not apart.
We left the conference before it even began, because I learned that God brings family together. Francis Chan is great, but family is family.
Give thanks for your family. Yes, imperfect, but orchestrated. The Lord put you together so that you wouldn't be alone. There are times when God will bring you together. And there are times when you need to choose to be together.
