The Tsunami Reached Me in Ohio

I had no idea, no clue what God was doing for me on that quiet Christmas evening long ago.

The Christmas bustle was over. The presents had been opened and put in their proper places. The delicious food had been enjoyed and the leftovers stored in the fridge. We were now resting in the calm of the Christmas night. 

After reflecting for a few moments more on the beauty, hope and peace we had been given in Christ, we turned on the television.

There were no words. No words to describe the images that were passing before our eyes. Such devastation as I had never seen before. In some far off island, people were dying by the hundreds of thousands. A 9.1 earthquake triggered a deadly tsunami.

With our mouths agape, our hearts sank at the innumerable loss of life. This town and many more smaller villages were completely flattened to the point of no recognition. Bodies that had life in them only moments ago were floating lifelessly in water that swallowed up buses. 

No clue. I had no clue that the images that I was seeing were images of my future home. God didn't reveal that to me that day. He didn't tell me that the hurting and despairing eyes that I was seeing on my screen would one day be the same pairs I would look into as I go about my daily life years later. That the building that was left partially standing, would be the same one that I would eventually buy my boxed milk from. And the beach that was washed out and littered with bodies and broken homes and boats would one day be our weekly Friday Night beach spot with breath-taking views of God's beauty.

That night, ten years ago, God was showing me my future, but I didn't know it. At that time, we knew nothing of Indonesia, let alone this small town of Banda Aceh {which I would have mispronounced back then}. But now, today, I call this place my home. And many of those souls that were floundering and being tossed by the overwhelming waters {yet by God's choosing, survived} are now our neighbors, store-keepers, and friends. 

So, today, on the anniversary of this devastating event that impacted so many of our friends' lives, I am reminded that God is big. 

This very disaster is what opened the door for the organization that years later we would work for to enter Aceh. 

{Very big.} 

And what's more, that same organization would then choose to send us to that exact spot even years later. 

{He is so much bigger than we know!} 

He ruled over the waters that day long ago, and He ruled over my future that same day on my couch in Ohio.

"What god is great like our God?...Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet Your footprints were unseen." {Psalm 77:13,19}

Glory to the One who rules over all...even when we do not recognize what He is doing until years later!