These stories are used with permission from Signs Publishing Company. More of these stories can be found in these collections: Ordinary People—Extraordinary God, Ordinary People—Faithful God, and Ordinary People—Generous God

God spoke to ordinary me

Walking down the main street of Mount Barker one cool day in August 2008, I gathered my cardigan around me and walked toward my destination. Recently, I had been praying for God to direct me in the way He wanted me to go so I could be of service to Him.

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God is faithful

God's leading hand was obvious to me, even in the preparation phase when I was applying for a US study visa. One of the requirements for a study visa then was an assurance from the bank that that the applicant had sufficient fund for the time they will be studying in the United States.

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God has a plan

But if we sold the house and paid the solicitors, we wouldn't have enough money to buy another house. We had often thought about living in the Adventist Retirement Village in Cooranbong and felt God was telling us to put the house on the market.

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Package deal

However, presented before me was a job opportunity that seemed to be God calling us to Sydney. There were several smaller hints that this opportunity was a prompting from God but one big nudge was the sign hanging on the house we had bought three-and-a-half years earlier.

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For such a time as this

Just as I was about to go to bed in one of the tiny rooms off the Parent Lounge, a new family arrived and we got chatting. The parents were young--barely in their 20s--and were accompanied by their mothers.

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Guiding me through

But that fine Autumn morning, my brother-in-law phoned to tell me my mother had had a massive stroke and was not expected to live very long--a few hours or days at most. Feeling numb inside, I changed my airline booking.

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A tested faith

One weekend when I visited Melbourne, I had a headache I assumed was due to preaching four times in three days, two international trips in less than a month, and life in general. The night we returned to New Zealand was August 5.

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Remembering to pray

Stewardship in the dark: Standing among trials "That won't work," the man said knowingly. I could see the man was unhappy with his tool.

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I know Who holds my hand

From a stationary position, I was rear-ended by a vehicle travelling 100 kilometres per hour and catapulted 40 metres up the highway. Amazingly, my car avoided collision with the oncoming traffic.

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Through many trials

"I feel I have been inappropriately massaged." The words of this young girl resounded in my ears for days afterward, I said over and over, "God knows. He knows." My life work was to help people--especially hurting women-- and to provide them with a refuge for comfort and care.

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