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Brent Turner - Sometimes God works in subtle and silent ways...
Brent Turner
Fullerton, California
EMail: dhammett@xc.orgSometimes God works in subtle and silent ways...
Having been a Christian for many years, I nevertheless found myself more than a bit nervous on that 4-hour flight to Pittsburgh. You see, in four days I was to undergo cranial (brain) surgery in an attempt to alieviate the vertigo and balance problems I had been suffering from.
After a long and uneventful flight, I arrived in Pittsburgh at 6:30 in the morning, local time. Dwelling arrangements had been made at one of the dorm buildings at the University of Pittsburgh, which was only 2 blocks from the hospital. Now, Pittsburgh was a booming steel town in it's heyday, but due to economics, the mills were closed. The only reminder came in the form of dark, black soot which covered the old buildings like a morbid blanket. Yea, Pittsburgh really did live up to it's name.
The dorms weren't anything to write home about either. I remembered descriptions of flop-houses and 'Y's from depression-era literature, and they fit. I certainly wasn't at the Holiday Inn. Bathrooms were located on every 4th floor, and while each floor had it's own TV room, most of the sets didn't work all that well. Swell. And I had to spend 4 days in this place, in a town that I didn't know.
I did try to get away from my problems for a while by visiting the Carnegie Museum down the street. It worked for about 3 hours, but eventually I had to go back to that place.
While waiting for dinner (served, cafeteria-style down in the rec-hall), I unpacked a radio that I had brought from home. Without touching the tuning knob, I plugged it in, and turned it on. Lo and behold, I was receiving Pittsburgh's local Christian radio station! (What's even stranger is that I had it tuned to the local Christian station back home...)
While listening to the music, I went over to the window of my room and looked out at the city which surrounded me. I noticed a small church across the street, and figured why not give them a call and explain my plight - maybe I could drop by and at least derive some comfort by talking with the pastor for a while.
No sooner had I explained the situation, the kind voice at the other end of the phone informed me that the church had a ministry for people in my situation, and they would have the person in charge contact me later in the afternoon!
Afternoon did roll around, and yes, I got that call. It turned out that four guys from the church shared a house in town, and one of them was away on vacation - I was perfectly welcome to the use of his room! I was picked up, taken over to the house, and fed an honest-to-God warm, home-cooked meal. Instant Christian family! I had four instant 'buddies', and enjoyed their company, food, and fun - we even went to a ballgame together...
Even through my hospital stay (the surgery came off without any complications), the guys, sometimes with their girlfriends, would pop in and say hi. It's nice to have visitors (and family) when you are 2400 miles away in a hospital.
Needless to say, one of the wonderful parts of becoming one of God's children is the instant, world-wide family you are member of. While I must confess that God doesn't answer all our prayers in such a way, He does listen - all we have to do is trust Him. He does provide and meet our needs.
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