INNOCENCE LOST - SEXUAL ABUSE

*Psalm 139:16 “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be”. 

 *Acts 17:26b “…and He determines the times set for them and the exact places where they should live…”



 I have an incredible gift of remembrances from the time I was about two years old - especially for the houses I lived in. Memories of words, images - (like “home movies” recorded and played again and again…) Divine memories that I am compelled to write down… because they are rich in the revelations of His Presence with me…and the evidence of destiny.


My family lived on Felicity Street in New Orleans. It was known then as the Projects - a community of low-rent duplexes and apartments. Our little place was filled with wonder for me…the back yard where our neighbor Mr. LaRocca would give me chewing gum through the gate - and where my sister played board games, (and left the gate open once - through which I escaped into the most incredible journey of “getting lost”)! The front porch where Momma tried to teach me my right foot from my left, so I could put on my shoes all by myself…the front room where I sat on the floor and watched television shows like “Rin Tin Tin”, “The Lone Ranger”, “Howdy Doody”, and even the news…the kitchen where my sister put her red dish set up high - out of my reach, and where I split my chin open on the iron stove…and the forbidden stairs which led to the dark hallway above…


My “room” was the hallway…my crib was right outside Momma’s and Daddy’s bedroom. I’d wake and peek through the wooden bars, keeping my eyes on their door - waiting for them to wake and free me from my prison! My sister’s room was my favorite - it had a window which promised hours of watching cars, children, birds and dogs, trees, and clouds, (my favorite)! I don’t remember my brother’s room, except that it was small and dark…and at the end of the hallway, was the bathroom…When it was very cold, Momma would stand me up on the closed toilet and use a warm rag to “wash me down”. From my position on the toilet, I could see the sky through a little window above the tub - and I would search for the clouds - or the stars if it was dark outside…


Momma had an old phonograph - I think it was an RCA Victor model like the one with the ads of the dog. It had a dark red cabinet with a door in front. One day, she moved it from her bedroom into the hallway by my crib. I was napping, but woke when I heard a sound near my ear…Opening my eyes, I saw my brother open the phonograph door, and put something in it…I closed my eyes quickly…this was something I would surely investigate when nobody was around…


I spent many days sneaking upstairs and opening that little cabinet - and playing with the baseball cards that my brother hid there. But my greatest joy was the aroma of the mahogany wood which was released when I opened the door…This is where I was - squatting before the phonograph, playing with the cards and inhaling the wonderful fragrance of the red wood - when my predator found me…


Gerod was an older boy - maybe 15 or 16 years old. He was my brother’s friend and came over a lot. My mother cooked and cleaned for his mother - who was crippled - and she really liked Gerod. I didn’t like him - he liked to call me “Coony” - Cajun for “coon ass” - and he had a strange mouth that seemed to sneer at me when nobody else was looking…


I don’t know where Momma was that day…I can’t remember her ever leaving me at home alone before - or after - on Felicity Street…


“Coony”, Gerod drawled. “Put those cards away. I have something I want to show you”. He reached down and took my hands, lifting me to my feet. He led me down the hallway like a sheep to its slaughter…he brought me into the bathroom, and stood me on the closed toilet - just like Momma always did. And then he ruined my life…


I wasn’t raped - physically - I was raped of innocence . He didn’t allow me to be a victim - he seduced me into being a willing participant. He awakened a premature sexual awareness in me that tormented me with guilt and self-hate for most of my life. He used his body to make my me feel things I had never felt or known existed…things that felt good - but felt so very wrong…I lifted my eyes to the window above the tub and drank in the blue skies…there were no clouds…


“Do you like me doing this?”, he asked. I nodded, “yes”. And I remember that I immediately thought, “I want Momma”. His next words were as though he read my mind: “Don’t tell your Momma. If you do, I will never do this again.” Then he pulled abruptly away from me. I was torn - wanting more of those feelings - but despising the one pleasuring me.


I told Momma…I don’t know what words I used from my three-year old’s vocabulary to describe what happened. But she must have understood…she made me lay down on the kitchen table, with the hanging light bulb glaring in my face, and examined me…she found no evidence of assault…and did not believe me…Years later - when I was about 7 years old, Gerod came to visit my mother. She opened the door and embraced him into our home…


The Lord has healed me…for the most part…and forgiven me for the sexual sins I engaged in for so many years because of Gerod’s seduction. He has said often, “Not your fault”…and now at 60 years old, I finally believe Him…most days…


How interesting that “Felicity” - the name of the street where God destined me to live for a time - means “good fortune; happiness”. My name, Kathy, means “purity”. God, who knows all things, and wrote every day of my life in His book before it happened, allowed this evil to rob me of felicity and purity…In His Word, He promises to use everything meant for evil, for the good of those who love Him. He promises to complete the good work He began in me. He promises to redeem the years the locusts ate - the years I was robbed of felicity and purity…And He has! I have gained a depth of compassion for sexual abuse victims - and been equipped to minister to them with Christ’s love! And, I have been given a profound awareness of His Presence in my life. I am so loved! I wonder if I would know His love so well, had I not known hate and evil so well…


Toilets are a place where the Lord meets me! As a housewife and mom, I have cleaned many a toilet! There was a time when bathrooms and toilets often gave me anxiety…but now, His Great Sweetness visits me every time I take the Comet into the bathroom to clean it. He wants me to know I am not alone…I wasn’t alone with Gerod, either…


A while ago, I shared with a friend at church, a little visit I had with Jesus in the bathroom that morning. I realized that this was a “delicate” subject, and I apologized if I had offended her. She looked at me and smiled, then said, “Kathy, about 50 years ago, I was cleaning a toilet, crying my eyes out about my miserable marriage. I was on my knees scrubbing, and looked up toward heaven, and said, ‘If you’re real, and you care, come save me.’ And I was saved that day…cleaning the toilet…”


Ah, I marvel at the Divine in the midst of evil…I marvel at the Divine in the midst of the mundane…I marvel that there is no PLACE He will not go to flush away our pain…

DIVINE COLLABORATION - The Story - Part 7 - Final

I WAS BLIND, BUT NOW I SEE!!!



It is not often that I get to see what I look like after a Divine Appointment with my Lord. But two weeks after being given eyes to see at the DMV, my new driver’s license arrived!

It is not often that I get to see what I look like after a Divine Appointment with my Lord. But two weeks after being given eyes to see at the DMV, my new driver’s license arrived.

There are some things we receive in the mail that are downright delightful! Like a check, a letter or card from somebody we love, a book we ordered…or a renewed Driver’s License! The photo absolutely reflected a grateful heart. Yes, I looked like a convict - most DMV cameras do seem to capture that image, don’t they? But I looked like a convict who was mercifully set free!


I live a miraculous life! So do you! I have eyes to see Divine Moments. So do you! And if you don’t, just ask Him to give you eyes to see. I know He is faithful when we ask this because when I was a child, I saw a picture of Jesus and I told Him I wanted to really see Him. Jesus never forgot that prayer...


Year after year, He sent me Notice after Notice, and year after year, notice after notice, I forfeited my appointment to see Him. When I finally showed up, I got in the wrong line. But He nudged me into the one He reserved just for me. Then He made me sit and wait with time on my hands, until I had eyes to see myself as a sinner and see him as my Savior. And all the while, He was saving my life in the midst of calamities - and even death - because nothing was going to keep Him from that Divine Appointment we made years ago.


One day I will have the Ultimate Vision Test, and I will stand before my Lord. There won’t be any charts to read. He’ll invite me to come closer. Then He’ll say, “Who do you see?” And because of all the Divine Moments where He revealed Himself to me as the Savior of Divine Love, Divine Mercy, and Divine Grace, I will reply: “I see my Savior”. He’ll look into my eyes and say, “You have eyes to see”. And off I will go to Eternity - the place where He is and I will see His glory!

I have a poem to summarize this message:

I have a license to drive…with eyes that can’t see!

I have a Notice of Salvation…a sinner like me!

Moment by moment, The Divine picks the place

To awe me with wonders, and show me His face.

I’ll remember it all - I’ll write it down!

For those Moments happened on Holy Ground.

He writes my story line by line -

A marvelous creation - Divine by Design.

I find the miraculous - not the mundane

As I journey down Destiny Lane.

Come all! Sit at His feet, while He tells your story,

How moment by moment He leads you to Glory.

THE END

　

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SCRIPTURES

For

“Eyes to See”

　

　

Psalm 37:23: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and He delights in his way”. (NLT: “…He delights in every detail of his life…”
Ephesians 2:3b-5 “…we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.”

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered’…” “Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.” Exodus 24:4

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” 1John 5:11-13

“Come and listen, all you who fear God; and let me tell you what he has done for me”. Psalm 66:16

“…Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” Deut. 4:9

Psalm 146:8 “…the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.”

　

“All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be”. Psalm 139:16

Acts 17:26b “…and He determines the times set for them and the exact places where they should live…”
John 17: 22, 23, 24a: “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you in me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory…”

DIVINE COLLABORATION - The Story - Part 6

    

(continued from Part 5)


I looked at the clock. 1:15pm. Did I just come from the pit of hell, meet Jesus face to face, turn from hate to love, ask for and receive forgiveness, receive eyes to see - in just 15 minutes? That’s the Mystery and the Glory of a Divine Appointment. Like the woman at the well who met Jesus. Like the demoniac at the cemetery who was delivered. Like the blind woman at the DMV who was given eyes to see her pride and grace to be humbled.


In all of about 5 seconds, I tucked my heart back into my body and headed to my Destiny at Window 5. The young tester looked at wearing the Cyclops glasses, And he saw a blind woman at the DMV...


He tested my vision in a little machine. Then he had me read a few lines from a chart, using both eyes, then my good eye. The moment I dreaded came. It was time to cover the only eye I could see with.
“Cover your left eye and read Line 5 on the other chart”.

 I could not distinguish any letters. The whole chart was a blur. My heart sank. What I had feared had come upon me. Then he said, “Move closer. The angle of this chart is awkward.”

 I tried to move where he said, keeping my hand over my eye - but he gave me permission to take my hand down. Then he told me to turn and look at the chart, then cover my left eye. In those one or two seconds before I covered my eye, I saw, with both eyes, all the letters of Line 5 on the chart - it was impossible not to. My tester saw me see them!

 Then he said, “Cover your left eye and read the same line again”. I argued, “Are you sure you want me to read the same line, I mean…I just saw…” He interrupted me and said, “Yes. Read the same line.”

 The chart was still a blur. But, one by one the letters came into focus as my memory provoked them. I really did see them! Still, there were a couple I couldn’t see at all. The tester summoned me to his window.
He lowered his voice, and said, “You need to go soon and have your eyes checked, okay?”

 In the next few minutes, he spoke those words to me two more times. His voice ever so gentle - ever so concerned. “Remember to go soon and have your eyes checked”. “Don’t forget to go soon and have your eyes checked”. I wonder if that was what Peter heard when Jesus said, “Do you love me, Peter”? “Peter, do you love me”? “Do you love me”?


I am convinced that if Jesus had not humbled me when I was judging the “sinners” at the DMV, I would not have been given mercy and grace to pass the vision test. Why? Because pride comes before the fall - and Satan had arranged that Demonic Moment for just that reason. But my Lord had designed a Divine Moment to bring me to humility which always births grace. Psalm 146:8 says “…the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.”


I thanked the tester profusely! As I walked away to my next Divine Moment, I prayed:
“Memo to God: Remember to reward the Tester, Lord. He is a merciful servant”.


(To be continued - Part 7)

DIVINE COLLABORATION - The Story - Part 5

　
　
Perhaps I have persuaded you by now why I saw this DMV vision test as God’s hand of Sovereignty in protecting the world - and me - from further calamities. I suspected, too, that the angels I know surround me when I drive, were pleading for early retirement due to excessive job stress…


The day of the DMV Vision Test finally loomed, and I arrived at the Pomona DMV without any troubles - except unless you count going the wrong way in the parking lot at the DMV - which I quickly remedied. I had an appointment for 1:15. It was only 12:45. The line was clear out of the building and down the side. I stood in that line for awhile, until it dawned on me that maybe people with appointments have another line! Don’t you love those Divine Nudges - the elbow of God pushing into your thoughts? “Slow down”. “Stop”. “You’re in the wrong line”. I risked losing my place to heed His nudge...



I saw this smiling lady in a uniform with a badge that said, “Information”. I hopefully asked her if there was a line for appointments. She looked at my paperwork and then did the most gracious thing: She escorted me directly to a window where there was no line! “Memo to God”, I said, “Remember to bless this woman, Lord. She is a joyful servant!” I signed in and was told to wait for my name to be called at 1:15.



I sat and began meditating on how I almost missed my appointment by waiting in the wrong line. I closed my eyes for a bit and thanked Him for the Divine Nudge. I had chosen a seat close to an exam window so I could rehearse. You know: covering one eye, then the other…But the letters were pretty much a blur at that distance… Then, I thought that because the place was so loud, I might not hear when my name was called! I picked up my purse and scouted out a seat closer to the lady who promised to call my name. I quickly realized that she was using a booming public announcement system that that could wake the dead. Oh, well, I wasn’t going to move again…and the wall clock was clearly in my seeing distance. I wanted to be certain that when 1:15 came around, the lady didn’t forget me.


Something was happening in me at this point - I realized I wanted to pass the vision test with all my heart - and I knew God had known that all along…


The clock ticked onto 1pm, and I let my eyes roam around the warehouse atmosphere of the DMV. So many people! Young, old - although not too old - because we all know they shouldn’t be driving anyway - and I realized I was probably the oldest one there! With that observation, I shuddered that I could soon be relegated to the ranks of the “license-less”.
　　
　　
I think Satan or one of his cohorts must have saddled up next to me at this point, because all manner of evil was released in my mind through my eyes. Satan devises Demonic Moments to lead us to Demonic Destinies, just like God designs Divine Moments for Divine Destinies. This was a Demonic Moment for sure for I was given eyes to see the depravity of humanity in the DMV. I saw sloppy, ignorant, rude, angry, rebellious people. Parents ignoring their unruly kids, girls and women donning inappropriately suggestive clothing, and the seedy men slyly eyeing them. Then my ears were invaded with inane, secular discussions. But the worst was the filthy language rising up from behind me. I was indignant at the many people speaking in different languages, and that foreigners who cannot even read English are given licenses. Oh, I was lost in judgment and self-righteousness. My eyes saw everything clearly. Sinners.


The Lord did not nudge me this time. He looked at me - like when Peter denied Jesus the third time in the courtyard and Jesus turned around and looked Peter in the eyes. Caught. He saw me judging these people with eyes of pride. I was immediately ashamed.



Was I really any different from any of these? Me? A drug addict, an alcoholic, a thief, a liar? What about my anger, foul mouth, laziness, pride, ignorance, disrespect, perversions, and rebellion against authority, judgment and self-righteousness? The only difference between these sinners and me was that Jesus gave me eyes to see His Divine Moment of Glory as Savior on the cross and to see myself as a sinner, then gave me the grace to repent. And I needed to repent for the log that had just lodged in my right eye. I asked Jesus: “Let me see these people as You see them.” Every man and woman I looked at, looked like me…they were all blind!

 Then I saw the possibilities for salvation in that place! I was a sinner saved by grace! These could be saved by grace, too! I wanted to sing, “Amazing Grace”! I wanted to shout to them, “I was blind, but now I see”! I looked at the blind souls around me, and I loved them! I loved them!


“Kathy Vince Voorhies Sterkel, go to Window 5”.

To be Continued in Part 6...

DIVINE COLLABORATION - The Story - Part 4

The incident that amazed even me, was when I was pulling out of our driveway. Gary had just washed and waxed his truck and my Mercedes. He parked Mercy so that I wouldn’t have to put it in reverse to back out. (He had noticed that this was a tricky maneuver for me.) I had to run an errand, so I got in Mercy. I saw the truck. I saw the mailbox. But I hit them anyway. I just don’t have eyes to see when I am behind the wheel! (Question: Mailboxes in driveways… Is it just me, or is this really the best place to put a mailbox)?

 Then there was the time I was driving my husband home from back surgery. Well, actually, we were still in the parking lot. (I have another question: Who on earth invented underground parking? All those big cement columns! Obviously, I have a destiny with these objects, too). Again, I saw the two columns, but that phenomenon of seeing and yet not seeing occurred. Gary was pretty dopey from the meds so his reaction time was delayed and subdued. For this I will always be grateful.

　
　In time, my husband went from being patiently understanding of the incredible transformation Mercy was undergoing to being dumbfounded, and in just one day, he surrendered to defeat. In my defense, nobody ever told me that if a car is suddenly enveloped in a cloud of smoke, making ominous very loud clunking sounds, and only able to muster up to a maximum speed of 2 MPH, that it should not be driven. I figured I only had about 5 miles to get home and then Gary could fix it. He still says that was the day the Mercedes lost its will to live. I say it was the day he began his journey into believing in God. Over and over again, he said, “Oh, God, Oh, God, Oh, God”! 

 There was a season when I embraced the darkness of cocaine, alcohol, and pills. I drove while hallucinating. I drove while I was in a blackout. I drove with my children in the car. And I did not have even one accident. I broke the law. I endangered lives. But the Lord, who is rich in Mercy and Grace took the wheel. He was weaving a Divine Destiny even in these things.


During this bondage time, I cleaned up for awhile and cried out to God to help me. It is amazing how he weaved a Divine Moment as an answer to this prayer. A series of accidents occurred within three months. None were my fault. My daughter was with me in three of the five. I was hit by an older woman who said the sun was in her eyes and she didn’t see me! How is that for irony? She had eyes to see, but didn‘t see me! Another driver hit me so hard, that there was nothing left of my car but metal scraps. I walked away without a scratch. I was slammed into by a “hit and run” driver. I wondered at this point if my insurance company would believe I was faultless in all these incidents. I can’t remember the fourth accident…


The accident I have been called to remember again and again is the fifth and last one during that three month season. My daughter and I had just left the doctor’s office and been released from care for neck injuries we suffered in one of the previous accidents. We were sitting at a red light. My daughter asked me, “Mom, do you think we will ever have any more accidents?” I responded: “Honey, the odds are in our favor. We can’t possibly have another accident.” The words were barely out of my mouth when a car smashed into us from the rear. God, who is in control of every detail of my life, who determines my destiny, was not going to let me believe that my life was one of chance and playing the odds - and that nothing was impossible when my times were in His hands. He gave me eyes to see that day that He was writing my story - and He wanted me to remember that.


To date, I have had at least 30 accidents, most of which I cannot explain. I have had many tickets - many less than I should have received - near death experiences, enraged drivers, catatonic passengers, and speechless police officers. Of course, there are the terminally battered autos that have gone to their resting places. And always, the phenomena of seeing but not seeing …


To be continued...

DIVINE DESTINY - The Story - Part 3

(Continued from DIVINE DESTINY - The Story - Part 2)

My "driving career" began in New Orleans when I was a teen. My generation learned how to drive by just driving. I didn’t have a car, I hadn’t had any lessons - and I surely didn’t have a license! (I did have a gift for persuading people that I knew how to drive so that I could borrow their cars.) The first time I drove, I had an accident! I borrowed my brother-in-law’s prized Mustang to drive to the 7-11. When I was parking, I put my foot on the gas instead of the brakes. When the car didn’t stop, I hit the pedal harder and drove straight through the glass store front. The young store clerk told me to just drive away, and he would cover for me! Not too long after this, I side-swiped a half block of parked cars. My friend - whose car I was driving - took the rap, and paid the damages.

Don’t miss the parallel here of where the Divine meets the mundane to reveal the Mercy of Jesus. I broke the law. I was reckless. Others suffered. Yet I didn’t have to pay the price for my transgressions. (Sounds a lot like what Jesus did on the Cross, doesn’t it?) Anyway, I was convicted that I shouldn’t ever drive again. Seven years went by before I sat behind the wheel of a car.

When I moved to San Francisco, my husband said, “You’re 25. You need to get a license.” I pleaded with him to understand that I had a destiny with calamity whenever I drove. He dismissed my fears and pleas as superstition. So convinced was he, that he even volunteered to teach me himself. I think we got as far as the end of the driveway when he demanded I hire a professional driving instructor.

I was the instructor’s star pupil - I even aced driving on the Golden Gate Bridge - and I could stop on a dime at the bottom of a hill! No calamities happened when my teacher was in the car with me. I began to think I had been delivered! The curse was broken! After a month or so, the instructor was confident that I was ready to take the DMV test!

Passing the written and vision tests, I was assigned a DMV officer for the driving portion. He guided me to Chinatown. Unfortunately - and for the life of me - I did not know that pedestrians had the right of way!Honestly, in New Orleans, where I grew up, pedestrians did not have the right of way - at least I didn’t think so…Anyway, I approached an intersection and a crowd was crossing back and forth without any consideration that I was trying to cross. (How dare they!) So, I edged out and tapped a couple of the pedestrians with the nose of the car. They scattered. The DMV officer turned a ghastly shade of grey, then told me to drive immediately back to the DMV -  where he failed me without anymore ado! I was devastated. But I was determined to get a license now at any cost! It wasn’t a curse I was battling - it was the DMV - and my pride.

So, I devised a plan. At 4:45PM on a very rainy Friday, I walked into an obscure DMV office in the suburbs of San Francisco. The only one there was an older man. He had the look of “Oh, no. I just want to go home at 5:00”. Exactly what I had hoped! He locked up the office and let me take him for a spin - I just drove around the parking lot with him. There were no parked cars, no trees, no shrubberies - and no pedestrians! Thanks to that man and my plan, I have been driving legally for the last 34 years. But not without calamities…
I call this next season of my driving career “The Mercy Season”. My husband, had a classic Mercedes which he loved. Of course, he loved me better, so he handed me the keys and it was soon “my car”. I named it “Mercy” - not too clever a name for a Mercedes - but it wasn’t long before I realized it was a prophetic name for the car.. . The calamities started soon after.

To be continued...See DIVINE DESTINY - The Story - Part 4

DIVINE DESTINY - The Story - Part 2

I call this chapter in my story: “Eyes to See at the DMV”.

There are some notices we receive in the mail that are downright ominous:

IRS (Notice to Audit); Jury Summons (Notice to Appear), Notice of Eviction, Notice of Foreclosure, Insurance Denial Notice…

I have a certain level of anxiety about these notices, but the one I dread the most is the DMV Renewal Notice, which inevitably has the little box checked off: “Vision Test Required”. It was this notice that I received on a fated day about three years ago that began weaving a Divine Moment for me.

 Since my last vision test at the DMV, my eyes had severely deteriorated to near blindness in my right eye. Somehow, the eye doctors manage to tweak my prescription every 5 years or so - and each time, the lenses get heavier and thicker making me look more and more like a Cyclops. Still, the right eye remains nearly blind. So, I knew that when the DMV said to me, “Cover your left eye and read the chart”, I wouldn’t pass. But I sensed that I was to make that appointment and not just forfeit my license. So I began assessing my options to help me pass the vision test - despite the seeming impossibility.

Option One: I considered asking a doctor if it was possible to make me some snap-on magnifying lenses to put over my glasses just for the eye exam. A Divine Nudge encouraged me to be prudent and check the DMV’s rules on such an attachment. Alas! Snap-ons were not allowed.
Option Two: Study for the test. I let my imagination run wild on this one. I could don a trench coat, put on dark prescription glasses, and sleuth from window to window at the DMV - copiously coping each line of each chart. Then I could memorize them, show up on testing day, and pass the vision test from memorization. I realized this was risky behavior, and that my memory was not that good. And of course, I knew this was not God’s will. (I used to do this years ago - without the trench coat - and when there were only two or three charts in the whole place. I passed many times with this technique.)

My last and only option was to pray: “Lord, you know I can’t read those charts if I cover my good eye. Lord, I’m a homemaker. You know I need to drive to do all the chores my family needs me to do”…  That was when I saw the blessings in not driving! No more grocery shopping - hurling 5lb bottled waters into my car, then wrestling them out of the trunk and into the garage. No more of the tedious, laborious driving chores. At last, my husband would discover the utter joy of being my chauffeur and companion in all my chores. “Driving Miss Kathy”. Oh, this was all good!
　
But where I really, really convinced myself that having my license revoked was a good thing, was that maybe God was saving the world from calamity. You see, apart from being visually impaired, I am “vehically“ challenged…Seriously! I dred parking lots and habitually park my car as far away from others as I can - because I seem to have a destiny for calamity in parking lots with parked cars - as well as trees and shrubbery. (I have a question: “Why on earth do so many parking lots have trees or shrubbery”?) I have a destiny for disaster with these objects, too. ..

Anyway, I did fervently travail with God about all this. I let Him know that I totally understood if my driving days were over. And if I hadn’t cheated all those other times, I would have been forced to hang up my keys years ago. “Years ago” - those words reeled me back to when my driving career began.

To be continued in next blog:  DIVINE DESTINY - The Story - Part 3

DIVINE DESTINY - Introduction - Part 1

Psalm 66:16: “Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me”.

Psalm 45:1 “My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the King; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer”.
This is a Divine Message of Divine Destiny, wrapped up in Divine Moments of Divine Love, Divine Mercy and Divine Grace. It is a true story - my story - written by my Divine Lover - just as He has written one for each of you. This is just a chapter today - which is seemingly ordinary and mundane. *Yet, He Himself who ordains all my days, and delights in every detail of my life, determined the times set for me and the exact places where He would reveal His Divine Destiny for me.
*Psalm 37:23: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and He delights in his way”. (NLT: “…He delights in every detail of his life…”
*Psalm 139:16 “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be”.
*Acts 17:26b “…and He determines the times set for them and the exact places where they should live…”

Before I tell you this chapter in my story, let’s look at the “wrappings” that enfold it:

Divine DestinyJesus defined this in His prayer in John 17: 22, 23, 24a: “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you in me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory…”

 Divine Moments. These are the times when we recognize the personal hand of God working details, times, and places together to reveal Himself to us as the Lord of our destinies. Divine Moments occur in dreams, visions, prophecies, circumstances, “coincidences”, and surely the Word of God. These Divine Moments comfort, confront, convict, counsel. They reveal the very Presence of God who is not far away in heaven, but walking beside us on this earth.

Divine Love, Divine Mercy, and Divine Grace.
Ephesians 2:3b-5 “…we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.”

 Remembering our Divine Moments. “…Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.” Deut. 4:9

(Continue to DIVINE DESTINY - The Story - Part 2)