God's Voice...according to Kelly

Man, I wasn't kidding about being sick! I don't think I've ever been knocked flat by anything (besides open-heart surgery) for this long. I've barely left the house for the past week - very unusual. Oh well, maybe it's all for a reason...there's been a 15-foot Great White shark hanging around one of our local surf spots for the last week. It actually swam right up the river the other day and under a friend of mine in his canoe! Regular 'Jaws' action going on in Seaside! I would definitely have been out in the water with that shark (probably sharks - plural) a lot if it wasn't for being so sick. God probably figured that laying me out on my back was the only way to keep me from getting eaten! (OK, I have to stop here and admit that after I started this post this afternoon, I actually took a break and went surfing. I'm back blogging away now, so it's Jeremy: 1, White Shark: 0.)

I sorta have to chuckle every time I hear someone say that, "Everything happens for a reason". I always have to choke down the urge to say, "Well, Duh!". I don't believe in coincidence or karma. I do believe that God has a plan for each of us and although He won't get too pushy, often times things that seem to be just falling into place for a reason really are for a reason - His reason. He's probably not going to show up with a big explosion, crack you on the head with a bolt of lightning, and tell you in a thundering voice that sounds like James Earl Jones to go preach to pygmies in South America while dropping a huge sack of money in your lap so that you can quit your job and buy plane tickets and DVD copies of the 'Jesus movie' translated into pygmy-ese. But there's a good chance that if He really is asking you to do something, stuff will sorta start to 'fall into place'. Some call it coincidence, I call it God's voice.

That's exactly where Camille and I are right now. Ever since we went up to Washington and met with the Boyers (Kim Boyer is the head of the board for My Father's Home) about coming to Bali, WAY too many things have just been 'falling into place' for this new adventure of ours to be anything but God's idea. For starters, the very next morning, my good friend Chris called. Everyone probably knows a 'technology guru' - through the years Chris has been my (and my family's) answer-man for all things computer-related. I've known Chris since I was in high school and he has known that serving orphans in Bali is the sort of thing that I was supposed to end up doing all along. I had 'talked' to him on facebook the night before and told him about our plans. He was literally crying when he called me and told me that he had been waiting for 20 years to see me fulfill my true purpose. Chris is the executive director of a technology industry trade association and has a lot of contacts in the computer world. He told me that he wants to send Camille and I off to Bali with a new laptop so that we can stay in touch with the world. What he didn't know is that we were currently looking for a new laptop because ours is in it's death throes!

That evening, Camille and I decided to stop by the local festivities at the redneck madness that is the Lake Stevens annual Aquafest to see one of my high school buddies. While we were there, we saw my friend Julie from high school (Aquafest is always sort of an impromptu high school reunion/karaoke contest/carnie-fest). We started telling Julie about our plans in Bali and she got really excited. Julie has been in a lot of really cool bands since high school and is currently a talent manager/events coordinator with a big talent company in Portland. She also has a rockin' all-girls AC/DC tribute band! She was so touched by what it is that we will be doing and told us over and over that this kind of thing is closest to her heart. She gave us her business card and insisted that we let her co-ordinate a charity event for My Father's Home, complete with live music and everything! I'll have more details on that soon, hopefully!

Since then, it seems like barely a few days ever go by without another confirmation that Bali is definitely the 'next step' for Camille and I. The other day, the simple act of borrowing a friend's trailer to start cleaning out our storage unit led into me meeting the Seaside High School vice-principal and being able to make some awesome contacts for Camille and I to be able to come into the Jr. High this fall before we leave and learn from the teacher who teaches English as a second language to the local Mexican kids. He said that she will be thrilled to help us in any way and share curriculum with us!

I guess you could say that this stuff is just coincidence. Or that 'everything happens for a reason'. What I know deep down inside is that all of this is evidence that what we are about to do is actually our Creator's idea, not our own. He is 'flattening out the road' in front of us and making it impossible to doubt that we are doing the right thing. That's why I say that it is all God's voice to me. When you are truly following His will, this is how He speaks to you (at least in my experience). No, I have never heard an audible voice tell me to go to Bali and live with 36 orphans. But I know Bali is exactly where He is pointing us. He dropped the opportunity in our laps. He keeps smoothing out all of the details. It's as if the very forces of nature are aligned with one goal: to get Jeremy and Camille to My Father's Home. His voice wouldn't be any clearer if He appeared in a flash of light dressed as Gandalf and smacked us upside the heads with His staff!

I'm writing this stuff down as much for myself as I am to share it with you. I know that there will be days ahead that will be frustrating and hard. It's the details of all of these confirming events that we will always be able to call to mind and know, even in the middle of the hard stuff, that this is truly what we are supposed to be doing.

Hopefully some of you are reading this who have been struggling to figure out how to hear God's voice. This is my honest experience in that area. I've never heard a 'voice'. But I have had longings in my heart or burning desires to follow a certain path. I think God is just waiting for us to act on some of those desires. If they are from Him, He will let you know - just as He is doing for Camille and I. When you hear His voice, let me tell you that you won't mistake it for anything else! Likewise, He has a real knack for shutting the doors that you are not supposed to walk through - if you are sincerely listening! Above all, if you are truly struggling to hear His voice, start by reading His Word - the Bible. He's already given us all of the answers and they are written down in one convenient book!

We are so excited to share our new journey with all of you. Please check in from time to time for updates. Also, if you like to pray, Camille and I would really appreciate your support in that area! Thanks and hopefully I'll blog more this week now that I'm feeling a little better.