God’s Lay Away Plan

The story of this entry begins back in July 2006. A local puppetry group known as “The Down Home Friends” came to my church to put on a puppet show during the Sunday evening service.

This was around the time I had decided to try ventriloquism again. I had made a attempt to learn it when I was 16 years old but didn't have the patience to stick with it. Now at age 45 I felt called back into it again.

The puppets they used were very professional and made of latex and fabric. They were expertly created by a man named Steve Axtell and sold by his company Axtell Expressions. You can see them for yourself at www.axtell.com.

On the Sunday evening after the performance the group was packing up the equipment and puppets. I helped them. They were kind enough to let me hold and practice with the turtle puppet they had. Even though it was for just a minute or two from that moment on I dreamed of one day owning my own Axtell puppet.

Now flash forward to earlier this month (April 2008). I found out through the Down Home Friends website that the group had decided that they were going to disband which meant they were selling their puppets.

I immediately emailed them and found out that they were selling the turtle and the owl puppet for about ½ of what they cost new. After nearly 2 years of wanting just one I had the opportunity own two Axtell puppets. The only problem was that I had just lost my job. The timing of the opportunity didn’t seem to be very good.

However God had blessed us financially earlier in the year so we had a little extra in savings. That and a clear picture of our financial status thanks to a Bible Study we had been doing at church helped me make a difficult decision. With Paula’s agreement I decided to purchase the two puppets from “Down Home Friends.”

As it turns out that Sunday night performance in July 2006 was the farewell performance of the “Down Home Friends.” Health problems and other things kept them from ever ministering again.

When I met with Frank, the group leader, to complete the transaction he told me something I found rather interesting. Neither of the puppets had been out of storage since that last performance. That means that I was the last one to touch the turtle puppet in 2006 until I bought it in April 2008.

In my mind that’s significant evidence of God’s providence in my life. It’s like He put the turtle on a special “layaway” plan for me until just the right time in my life. He then provided the means, the opportunity and the amount of trust in him I needed to take a step of faith and buy the puppets. Believe me taking $300 out of your savings account when you don’t have a job is really a step of faith.

The reasons I’ve told you all of this are these:

To honor and glorify God for continuously having His hand on my life.

To let you know that if are a Christian and are following Jesus Christ if you are obedient and faithful to Him he will work His will in your life.

Psalms 37: 4 & 5 says: Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this.

This scripture had become true many times for me over the last few years? What does He have in store for your life?