I had not been on a champions cruise before.  I always wanted to go, but to honor my wife, who definitely is not the cruise type, I did not. This year, she said o.k. And we went! Well, cruise type or not, I do know that she loved the people on the cruise, and hopefully that will be enough so that we can go again some day!

In the end, every transformation community event is about the people and the stories. My “party” days are pretty much over. I get enjoyment in being sober today, and watching others party! What gives me more joy and fun than anything else is getting to sit down and listen to others tell their stories.  Sometimes, I find myself in the midst of one of their stories, and it’s then that you can actually begin to see how all these things in motion long ago, and that there are no coincidences or accidents.

I’m going to be purposely vague and incomplete here, because I don’t have permission to tell stories on others. But here are a couple of stories I was involved in:

1. I sat down at a table with another guy, shook his hand, looked him in the eye, spoke warmly, and ended up hugging him. Up to this time,he was not a friend, and was someone I regarded warily. He regarded me the same way. But we have both changed a great deal, and I can honestly and unashamedly say that I love the guy today! The cruise wasn’t what DID IT, but it was the place that God chose to do it! One day soon, I’ll invite him to guest write a blog about what happened to us, and if he consents, we’ll let you all know what happened! He even signed my book!

2. There was another divine moment. Something I said in my talk to the group, along with something another speaker said, combined to pierce the heart of a person who was in deep emotional pain and torment at that very time. Those statements caused  the person to go to another, and set things right–right there on the cruise boat! I would never had known, wouldn’t even have thought that such a thing might be going on, had not the person looked me up and thanked me. Really, he was thanking God by thanking me, because that is who set it all up long ago.

Just think of all the effort God went to just to quiet a person’s spirit. He arranged for two speakers with completely different agendas coming from different countries, to be on a particular cruise ship with the person needing to relieve the torment, and also with the person who helped create the torment, who needed to be approached to make it all right! What an inefficient way to achieve reconciliation! That’s how I recognize God’s signature on things–it’s just so extravagant, almost wastefully extravagant, when He sets out to get us closer together!

Of course I reconnected with many old friends as well, some of whom I hadn’t seen in the nearly 4 1/2 years since our ultimate transformation camp in Colorado. It was such an amazing smorgasbord of new and old friends that I almost didn’t have time to get sunburned or make a fool of myself! Well, I did do a little bit of solo dancing around the party boat, but that was just due to the great music they were playing at the time!

So, what do you take from this story? What I get from it is the clear message that God is always working, and always present wherever we go, reconciling, giving, and lavishing His love on us all. This time it was on a boat. The next time it might be in my car, the dentist’s office, or even at my bench in the courtroom, but when God shows up, YOU know it!

Next week, we’ll start a new series. On what? How should I know? God hasn’t shown up yet with the topic.  I’ll get back to you!