Facials and Other Divine Appointments by K. Denise Holmberg
My fabulous children gave me a spa day for my birthday.
It was heavenly.
My first appointment was a facial with a wonderful woman named Sharon Denise.
“Denise is my middle name, too,” I said opening a litany of similarities between us.
Through a few minutes of conversation, we discovered we had lots in common.
We both had lived in San Diego, married men from Arizona, adopted two kids, and had a grandbaby born last August.
Then she said whispered, “Oh Lord, I believe in divine appointments.”
“Looks like we have at least one more thing in common," I said. "I’m a believer too."
“I’m a pastor's wife,” she told me.
First of all, when I’m having a facial or massage, I don’t like banter. I want to hear the soft spa music in the background and smell lavender and bergamot wafting in the air. I want to drift away …
This was different. I felt that small voice inside telling me to listen.
I asked her to tell me her story.
Twenty years ago, her husband was finishing seminary in California. They came to visit relatives she had in Greenville.
Leaving on the airplane, her husband looked down from his window seat and said, “The Lord is telling me to start my ministry here.”
“Well, I sure ain’t hearing that call!” she said. She had no intention of ever leaving California.
They agreed to go home and fast and pray for a week.
Then they came together and agreed to write down what they had heard from the Lord.
Sharon turned her paper over first. Genesis 12:1 is all she had written.
Her husband turned his over. Genesis 12:1.
Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1 NKJV)
Yikes. They were going to Greenville.
(I didn't mention to her that I just finished a novel on Genesis 12, not wanting to distract from her story. However, I did get "goosies" all over!)
“But, first,” Sharon Denise told me, “I had to have my Jonah moment.”
Jonah had been called by God to Nineveh, but tried to flee the divine mission by going to Tarshish
instead. He ends up in the belly of a large fish.
“And the Lord caused a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was alive within the fish for three days and three nights.”
Sharon put off the move to Greenville. She let the time of fasting and prayer slip from her mind. They not only stayed in California, but moved to a new neighborhood.
One day, she was held up at gunpoint. She lost her wedding rings and a family heirloom she wore around her neck. But he left her alive.
Within a week, her husband was also robbed at gunpoint. He had stopped to buy a newspaper at a vending machine.
“The Lord literally had to put a gun to my head to make me listen to him,” she said.
In the story of Jonah, even though he was God's servant, he was only thinking about himself. God protected Jonah and saved him, because he wanted to teach him a great lesson.
“In the fish, Jonah cried to the Lord and the Lord caused the great fish to vomit Jonah upon the dry land.”
(Yes, sometimes God's grace involves vomit. LOL)
Jonah went to Nineveh.
Sharon went to Greenville.
I’m spending this week meditating on Sharon’s story and the story of Jonah. I don't have any great revelations to share with you ... yet. But I know there is a lesson God wants to teach me, because I believe in divine appointments.
What about you?
Blessings!
KDH
It was heavenly.
My first appointment was a facial with a wonderful woman named Sharon Denise.
“Denise is my middle name, too,” I said opening a litany of similarities between us.
Through a few minutes of conversation, we discovered we had lots in common.
We both had lived in San Diego, married men from Arizona, adopted two kids, and had a grandbaby born last August.
Then she said whispered, “Oh Lord, I believe in divine appointments.”
“Looks like we have at least one more thing in common," I said. "I’m a believer too."
“I’m a pastor's wife,” she told me.
First of all, when I’m having a facial or massage, I don’t like banter. I want to hear the soft spa music in the background and smell lavender and bergamot wafting in the air. I want to drift away …
This was different. I felt that small voice inside telling me to listen.
I asked her to tell me her story.
Twenty years ago, her husband was finishing seminary in California. They came to visit relatives she had in Greenville.
Leaving on the airplane, her husband looked down from his window seat and said, “The Lord is telling me to start my ministry here.”
“Well, I sure ain’t hearing that call!” she said. She had no intention of ever leaving California.
They agreed to go home and fast and pray for a week.
Then they came together and agreed to write down what they had heard from the Lord.
Sharon turned her paper over first. Genesis 12:1 is all she had written.
Her husband turned his over. Genesis 12:1.
Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1 NKJV)
Yikes. They were going to Greenville.
(I didn't mention to her that I just finished a novel on Genesis 12, not wanting to distract from her story. However, I did get "goosies" all over!)
“But, first,” Sharon Denise told me, “I had to have my Jonah moment.”
Jonah had been called by God to Nineveh, but tried to flee the divine mission by going to Tarshish
“And the Lord caused a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was alive within the fish for three days and three nights.”
Sharon put off the move to Greenville. She let the time of fasting and prayer slip from her mind. They not only stayed in California, but moved to a new neighborhood.
One day, she was held up at gunpoint. She lost her wedding rings and a family heirloom she wore around her neck. But he left her alive.
Within a week, her husband was also robbed at gunpoint. He had stopped to buy a newspaper at a vending machine.
“The Lord literally had to put a gun to my head to make me listen to him,” she said.
In the story of Jonah, even though he was God's servant, he was only thinking about himself. God protected Jonah and saved him, because he wanted to teach him a great lesson.
“In the fish, Jonah cried to the Lord and the Lord caused the great fish to vomit Jonah upon the dry land.”
(Yes, sometimes God's grace involves vomit. LOL)
Jonah went to Nineveh.
Sharon went to Greenville.
I’m spending this week meditating on Sharon’s story and the story of Jonah. I don't have any great revelations to share with you ... yet. But I know there is a lesson God wants to teach me, because I believe in divine appointments.
What about you?
Blessings!
KDH
Don't know how I missed this one, but it gave me chills!
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