I’ve been thinking lately about our steps being ordered by the Lord (Psalm 37:23). I believe this is true on any given day when we’re yielding to the Holy Spirit and trusting Him to guide us. However, on some days it becomes more evident than others that He’s guiding our steps. Remembering them makes me smile or sometimes takes my breath away!

Years ago I was driving through Amish country (New Wilmington, PA) every few weeks on my way to the chiropractor just across the Ohio line. The sign “Brown Eggs” outside an Amish farmhouse drew me and I stopped there to buy fresh eggs several times. One day, on a whim, I told the Amish housewife, “I thought you might be interested to know that my parents were raised Old Order Amish.”

She beamed. “Where was that?”

“I was raised in Grantsville, Maryland.”

Her dark eyes sparkled, “My mother was adopted by an Old Order Amish family from an orphanage in Grantsville, Maryland!”

I was amazed. “Who adopted her?” The name meant nothing to me but she told me the family was from Oakland, Maryland, a town about 28 miles from Grantsville.

 “If you’ll send me a letter telling me when you’ll be down this way again, I’ll make sure Mamm is here to talk to you.”

I did as she asked and a few weeks later, I met her mother. When I told her my mother was Ruth Beachy, daughter of Mose Beachy, she gave a huge smile. “Why yes, I knew Ruth! The family who adopted me lived on a farm next to her uncle in Oakland. We played together when they came to visit her uncle.”

This dear lady knew my mother’s childhood nickname, as well as the nicknames of her younger brother and sister. It was so exciting to talk to someone who had known my mother in her childhood. We reminisced for some time about those days of long ago.

This incident gave me a warm sense of my steps being ordered by the Lord simply because of the joy He knew it would bring me─and my new friend─to have this encounter. It’s a memory I cherish. There are other times, however, when it’s obvious God has a greater purpose for ordering our steps.

One day I stopped to visit our former next-door-neighbor in Penn Hills where we’d lived for three years. Donna answered the door, crying, phone in hand. After she hung up, she told me she’d just learned that Karen, the woman who’d bought our house, was going to take them to court to force them to remove the part of their paved driveway that was on her property.

I felt responsible because, although we’d given our neighbors permission to pave the part of their driveway that was on our property, we’d never put anything in writing. We’d known when we bought the house that part of the neighbor’s gravel driveway was on our property and part of our fence in the backyard was on theirs. It was true of most of the houses in the neighborhood. No one cared. Until now.

Heartbroken that the person to whom we’d sold our house was causing trouble for our former neighbors, I prayed with Donna on the spot, and Donn and I continued to pray for a peaceful resolution after I returned to Sandy Lake. I can’t remember how long we waited or even who told us the outcome, but Karen never took our neighbors to court. Soon after her threat, one of the neighborhood children got hurt on the gym set in her back yard─a broken arm or wrist, I think. Karen was so afraid she would be sued by the parents of the child who’d been hurt that suing someone else was the last thing on her mind.

What were the chances of me arriving at Donna’s door just as she’d received the news that they were going to be sued? I believe God ordered my steps that day so that we could intervene through prayer. He cared about what was happening in our old neighborhood and gave us an opportunity to join Him in bringing about a different outcome.

I love the idea of my steps being ordered by God and often when I find myself in unusual places (like the emergency room or a traffic jam), I’m learning to ask Him “Is there any particular reason why you needed me here?” More often than not, there’s someone or some situation for which He wants me to pray.

 

 

Thank you, Father, for ordering our steps, sometimes to bring us joy and sometimes so we can bring joy to someone else. Help us stay tuned in to the voice of your Spirit so we don’t miss out on the blessing. Amen.