God isn't forgetful even when we are.

Rather than blog about things which most people don't care about e.g. liverpool beating inter milan or collingwood getting thumped in AFL I thought i'd tell you guys about how i was encouraged by God yesterday. To go back a few years: (wavy dreamy music plays)
Background- I live in a house managed by the pressie church and as such there are rules/ regulations about who can move in. For example the person must be a christian and looking to be actively involved in serving at the church. (next door). We are expected (gentleman's agreement ;) ) to live lives as Christians (apparently this means mowing the lawn )
Now a few years ago a guy (Woody) moved into the house from ayr a relative of a person on the board- indeed i think might have even been our landlord (not 100% sure on that we have had so many) So imagine our surprise when we found out that this person was quite honest about his lack of Christianity. However he was a good bloke and we included him in everything and he abided to the house rules and over time began to learn more and more about God and Christianity. he was very keen on learning about God and really made some major changes in his life. He had made some bad choices in friends at home in Ayr and these friends were getting him into trouble/fighting/alcohol and so was often going home to ayr for weekends and coming back with stories of "defending people" and massive brawls. Over time he came to realize that it wasn't helping him and he was affecting his life by making bad choices. He then made a commitment to serving God. All seemed to be going great.
Imagie my frustration when he got involved in a relationship with a Church girl who "needed him" and so stopped coming to bible study and stopped growing. We kept trying but...
Anyways to make a long story short there was a major explosion involving nervous breakdowns, stalking, other girls, paranoia and many other things- he decided he was really missing his family, his dad offered him a job and so he moved back to Ayr and straight back to his old lifestyle and friends emerging every now and again when we went down or he came up. Over the years his mobile number changed and we lost contact for a year or so- every now and again we'd hear rumours through friends or he'd give me a call often a bit tipsy and we'd have a good chat.
I'd often been blaming myself, if only i hadn't been so busy, if only i'd done that, if only i had a few other guys i could have let int the whole situation instead of keeping quiet, if only.
Now recently we had the joy of having some one come to Townsville on a bible college mission and over a year or so they were lead to come up here to take over at the congregations at Ayr and Home Hill (they had no minister our church had been rotating with guys going down to preach for the last 2 years or so). As we were planning to go down to celebrate with the people there for the induction service- i thought- wouldn't it be great if woody was there. (Could i just put in that although he sounds like a thug he is actually a top bloke)
So i called his mobile- no response, tried to find his e-mail address- no luck. and had just about given up. Then on Tuesday i remembered he worked at the ford dealership a year earlier. doubting if he still worked there i gave them a call- and Woody answered. he had a chat and i invited him to the event on wed night. He indicated he might be keen but was in Bowen that day and would see how he went- he only finished work at 5 and the bbq started at 5:30.
Now I mentioned to the new minister at Ayr that a friend of mine might show up and i wanted to introduce him but wasn't really expecting him to show.
Well lo and behold in walked woody straight from work having driven an hour to come up for it. he stayed for the bbq and then for the church service and then hung around for hours afterwards chatting to us and to the new minister. In fact he was still there chatting to Gavin (the new minister) when we left and indicated he'd come back to the church and invited Gav to drop in on him at work or for a coffee etc.
I felt like dancing around (partying right now) and was reminded about how God is in control. I'd almost given up- actually i probably had but yet God was in control to give woody an active christian contact in his home town.
Now I'm not saying i know what the future will bring but i know God is in control- I'd love for you to join with me praying for Woody and for Gavin and janelle (his wife) as they get settled into this new area. Pray that God might encourage them in their ministry. And don't ever give up on a friend thinking they are too hard: God is in control.