Ramen from Heaven
After a busy day of class and study yesterday, I met with Dick Schamp, one of the elders at Memorial, before attending our church's session meeting later that evening. It had been a few weeks since Dick and I had gotten together, and the plan was to meet at 5 p.m. for an hour at the church, where he then had dinner with the elders at 6 and the meeting at 7 (which I planned to attend as a member of the congregation).
As usual, I had brought a book with me, and planned to sit and read from 6-7; however, as I had been a little rushed getting out the door, I had only eaten a PBJ/banana sandwich for dinner and didn't have time to pack anything else. I just figured I'd sit through the meeting semi-hungry (it's not like I'm wasting away).
When Dick and I met at five, we talked for a half hour or so inside, and then decided to go for a quick walk outside. As he's been in process with us about our transition from support to my teaching position this fall at Westminster Academy, he asked how things were going with the summer job hunt.
Enthusiastically, I was able to tell him that we haven't really had to worry about it this month, as we had a surplus in our support from May that would cover most of June. This was a good thing, I explained, as the class had turned out to be a full-time job in itself (17 two-and-a-half-hour lectures, 8 books, 4 quizzes, 1 paper, and a final exam - all in three-and-a-half weeks).
When Dick asked me about July, I told him I wasn't sure, but that so far we had $600 already in for that month. In light of all the prep work I needed to do to be ready for August (i.e. read six more books and learn an entire curriculum for two sections of New Testament Survey and three sections of Ethics), I told him that Megan and I had decided to gut it out until I officially came on payroll in August. He asked how Megan felt about that, and I told him she seemed fine with it, especially on the heels of seeing God provide the new job a month or so back.
Just then, as we were walking (picking up little pieces of trash along the church property as we went), we came upon a solitary, unopened package of Ramen noodles lying smack in the middle of the empty sidewalk. Dick, who knew I hadn't planned to eat, just started laughing as I, smiling as well, reached down for the package of noodles. "Ramen from Heaven," he said. We both just stood there, shaking our heads. I had dinner after all.
I don't know of a better story to illustrate what the past few months - as well as the past fourteen years - have been for us while raising support. God has provided through strange and (often) funny means. We try not to read into it or make ridiculous demands as a result, but we certainly have no reason to doubt him; he has been faithful to us in many ways.
As you may recall, May was officially our last month to raise support; however, many still gave for June, and that has been a providential blessing in light of how summer has played out thus far. If you gave in either month, thank you. You have helped us finish well by your generosity.
While we have no expectation for anyone to continue to give, if you feel led to help us make it through July with one last gift, we won't turn it away as we consider all that God is asking us to do in preparation for the next stage of our ministry. Our account is still open at Memorial (and will be until the end of July), so if you feel led, you can make out a check to Memorial Presbyterian Church (put our name in the memo line) and mail it to:
Memorial Presbyterian Church 201 South Skinker St. Louis, MO 63105
Just wanted to pass this story on today. I hope it encourages you in your own faith journey to look to the Lord, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), not to mention a Ramen noodle factory somewhere in the vicinity of Skinker Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri.