God shows himself in mysterious ways…

February 27, 2024

A Tuesday Newsday Classic updated

A good editor is the key to making sure whatever is written reads right and, well, doesn’t make ridiculous mistakes. In late February 1997 an American Family Publisher’s Sweepstakes entry was received by the Bushnell Assembly of God Church. It began thus:

“God, we’ve been searching for you”

Apparently when dealing with the topic of God the Infallible Wikipedia is silent. Therefore, I share this brief clip from the Spokesman Review:

“If God were to win, the letter stated, ‘What an incredible fortune there would be for God! Could you imagine the looks you’d get from your neighbors? But don’t just sit there, God.’

Sweepstakes officials did not return several telephone calls for comment Thursday.

(Pastor Bill) Brack said his 140-person congregation is considering whether to mail in the entry. The church could use the money.

And if American Family chooses a different winner?

‘God would be disappointed,’ Brack joked.”

This story reminded me of something similar which I experienced a couple of years ago. Over the course of a ten year period, I made frequent trips from Seattle to Yakima to help with my elderly parents. During that time, I had a 10+ year old Garmin GPS which I liked to turn on and use to give me approximate arrival times, elevation, etc. I would play little games in my brain, estimating what time I would arrive at which city, town or exit along the road.

One da, as I was headed back home, I stopped at the westbound Indian John rest area and, since I hadn’t yet sent my husband an update as to my estimated arrival time (ETA) I tapped out a quick text message just before I backed out of the parking spot and put the car into gear. It wasn’t until I read his reply at my next stop that I realized autocorrect on my phone had done this:

“God says I’ll be home at 4:30”

Apparently the terminology “GPS” didn’t exist in my phone’s spelling brain and switched it to the word “God” instead.

I believe I got back a reply something to the effect of “its good God knows when you’re getting home.”

For several years I sent him messages about my ETA I type in “God” instead of “GPS.” I even referred to my arrival time as “God says” to those who did not know the history. I received more than a few strange looks from time to time. The way I see it is that it’s good to have God giving me travel advice.

If I had any doubt that my GPS truly was God my disbelief was dispelled in late October of 2016. I was on my way back from Yakima and was driving up I-82 towards Ellensburg. I glanced over at the GPS but what I saw left no doubt that some higher power was in charge. Instead of an elevation of about 2700 feet as expected “God” let me know I was at over… 50,000 feet!

As Doc Brown says in Back To The Future “Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need… roads!” Although the photo I snapped was a bit fuzzy, you can clearly see the elevation and God’s direction that I continue to an unpaved road. What road, I never did find out. This craziness continued for about 30 miles until I arrived at Thorp when, apparently, I was no longer flying and once again on solid pavement.

To be sure, there were many, many times when I wished for the flying car as imagined in the 1960’s cartoon “The Jetsons.” It would have cut down on many hours of driving back and forth to Yakima. In retrospect – now that both my parents are gone – I have come to appreciate those hours in the car. It served, in both directions, as an opportunity to think about whatever challenges I had going on in my life; I listened to a whole lot of music; and sometimes I would simply work out story plots in my head. There were a few trips when I drove east and it was clearly autumn in the mountains only to return five days later and it was winter. Perhaps God was in charge after all.

To read the entire article on God winning the sweepstakes, here’s the link: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/feb/28/god-you-may-have-won-11-million-sweepstakes/

And, of course, the original movie trailer from the 1977 George Burns and John Denver flick “Oh, God.”