There’s one from the Mercantile in Oklahoma. We went there as a family in the middle of winter, on our way to speak at a church in Kansas. We were raising funds and prayers as we became missionaries to Hungary. The church didn’t offer any financial support, but they did take us out for Mexican food. We were thankful we worked in a fun family side trip to see “The Pioneer Woman”, because otherwise that trip would have felt a bit disappointing. We trusted God and traveled anywhere someone would invite us to speak. He provided, and we were thankful to go and minister in Hungary as long as He had us there.
There’s another from “Wheel of Fortune”, as I was a contestant on the show in 2007. You should definitely go if you ever get the chance; it’s worth it. When I graduated from college, I hadn’t only learned Greek. I’d also learned how to use a credit card. The habit cost us deeply in our first years of marriage, and 5 years later, in 2007, we were spinning our wheels in mud trying to pay it off. I went on the show and won just enough to pay off the credit cards (and buy a dishwasher). We were thankful that I also won a trip to Vegas and a trip to Hawaii. We will always be thankful for how God used this show. Without it, we wouldn’t have been able to afford adopting our daughter or living as missionaries for a season. Don’t go into debt on purpose, but always know God’s resources are way beyond what we may ever expect.
There’s a purple ornament from Olivet Nazarene University. I remember going to ONU when I was a high schooler to compete in “talent competitions” called “Celebrate Life”. I didn’t appreciate it much at the time, beyond a great social event, but God was offering me a vision of the extended family a connectional church provides beyond the borders of cities, states, or even countries. Olivet ended up being where Sarah and I dated and began living as a married couple, and where our oldest daughter attends even now. It became my first “home away from home”, a respite from rough seasons of life, and a source of family in so many healing ways. I know no institution run by human beings is going to be without faults, but we really are thankful for ONU and the ways it continues to bear fruit.
There’s a picture ornament with photos of our family in Paris. More than just a “fun vacation” we took on Sarah’s birthday, we had no idea the precipice the world was on during those days. We were based in Hungary as Free Methodist missionaries, but flew (European flights between countries are very cheap sometimes!) from nearby Vienna to Paris for a few days. While we were in Paris, the world closed its borders in response to the growing pandemic. We made it back to Vienna, but were pretty much “smuggled” back into Hungary past army tents where foreigners were being detained. I’ll never forget our driver pulling over to call his wife and tell her what he was about to try and do…not knowing what would happen to any of us. We were so thankful to finally get “home”. Thus began a season of ministry overseas that would continue to both test and shape our family’s trust in the God we’d felt called by and sent to serve.
There are many more ornaments, from each of our lives as individuals, as well as family moments we remember together. As we decorate the tree each year, we don’t stop to tell all the stories, as that would take forever. But we’re blessed to pause here and there, as someone in the family says, “Hey, remember this?”
God has been good. God is good. The promise of this season of Advent is that God will be good also. We can trust in Him, not only because we have no other option. We are blessed to be able to place our trust in our God, who has revealed Himself as a loving Father. He invites us today, no matter what our experiences have been in the past, into a renewed experience of walking in loving attachment and being attuned to His face, which lights up with joy as we turn toward Him.
I look forward to all the ways we will remember these current moments in our walk…as we hang ornaments commemorating what God will do this next year.
words from wick 