Wednesday, September 02, 2009

keys


Two weeks ago, I woke up from a random dream. Rarely do I remember my dreams, but this one I could recall. "April, I had the weirdest dream, I was driving through HK in a Volvo." Her kind reply, "Oh...ok." Then a few minutes later, I check my email. I read in disbelief.

"Matt, would you be interested in this.... a friend of mine is looking to donate his Volvo?"

What?!?!?

I got an email that morning from a dear friend in HK who was approached that morning about donating a vehicle to a Christian ministry / family. She thought of our family and asked if we were interested. My reply: "Yes, we would be interested."

April and I could not believe the "coincidence". It sounded to good to be true. Seriously, we read and re-read the email. I was thinking.. this is crazy. Then, again, it's not. Why is it crazy for God to act on our behalf and for His purpose in our lives. The point is not our comfort, or what kind of car... the point is that we would know and testify of His faithfulness in our circles of influence. So we will do just that.

We met him at church that sunday morning. We spoke briefly, and once again I was reminded how God has gone before us, in ways we couldn't see or plan for. Clearly.

My not so random dream about driving a volvo in HK.
His generosity and stewardship in the kingdom.
Her friendship connecting the two of us in this massive city.
One beautiful picture of God at work in all of our lives.

I was blessed to have lunch with this brother and now friend. I got to know just a little bit about his story, walk with Christ, and motivation behind donating a perfectly good car to our family.

To be honest, he could have been donating a rickshaw, school bus or 1983 Yugo. It would have been appealing. Navigating this beautiful and sprawling city with little ones can be a challenge. And yet, at the end of today, we have been blessed with a safe and dependable car that we could never afford to purchase in HK.

I was able to have lunch with him today; We both shared our stories of how we came to know Christ, and talked a lot about living for what matters most. Not to mention, he gave me my first (and last) driving lesson in HK. We rescued April, Josh, Caleb, and Luke near the Science Museum. Props to my iPhone for the GPS Map. Thank you Apple.

Tonight, after putting the kids to bed, I drove (still a scary thought) out towards Sai Kung. Worship CD's were still in the changer, and when "Mighty to Save" came on, I thought back to our time in Auburn, to the many Thursday nights of going after God's heart with a community we loved, and how God has so clearly called us here.

Shine your light and
let the whole world see,
we're living for the glory
of the risen King, Jesus.

9 comments:

Chickie said...

What a beautiful illustration of His Provision! Love it! By the way...how are you adjusting to driving there?

Addie Talley, Photographer said...

thats just plain awesome..... God is so amazing!

Lauri said...

Hey Matt!
This is Lauri Mehaffey. Thanks for sharing this story today. Been thinking about you, your fam, and the HK team alot.
Blessings to you!

Kt-Rae said...

that is tooo cool! thank you Jesus!

~ Katie Stevens

Biscuet said...

Oh cool... so i can look forward to you picking me up at the airport, right?

Unknown said...

How precious is our Saviour?!? Thank you Lord for what you are doing for the Deans and how you continue to pour your love on them.
Reading this made my heart ache for those Thursdays in Auburn but also gave me chills thinking of all the amazing places in life all of those people are serving our Creator.

love you guys

Unknown said...

Beep, Beep, Hi!
From Heather & Chris-not Jane :-)

Ericka B. Jackson said...

AH! YES! And who says prophecy is dead?! Certainly not!

Love this story, thank you for sharing. I keep checking this blog for many reasons...of course to keep up with you guys, but also because after all these years, you are still teaching me, encouraging me, ministering to me. LOVE YOU GUYS! Enjoy your DAILY, 4 wheeled reminder of God's provision! :)

Unknown said...

miss those thursday nights...look forward to more stories of provision and salvation from your side of the world.