“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” -Isaiah 55:9
Life is full of unexpected surprises. There are certainly unusual events happening in the United States right now, but what about in your personal life? Has life thrown you any curveballs lately? My life seems to lead from one shock to another, which always presents me with more opportunities to trust Jesus and keep my eyes focused on him. Jesus promised us life would be challenging in this way when he said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). This week, the troubles of life are weighing heavy on me. Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart. In the midst of the struggle with life’s surprising troubles, I renewed my faith again and determined to bring my pain and problems to Jesus. He didn’t take all my troubles away, but he strengthened me to persevere and keep going, trusting in his unknown plan rather than in what I think life should be like. His ways are mysteriously righteous, and we simply cannot understand them.
Speaking of life’s surprises, our road trip was full of them. I was not only surprised by the people and places we saw, but also by some of the words I heard the Holy Spirit speak about certain states. Some words didn’t make sense or were ironic and seemed like the opposite of what’s currently true. Words from God do not have to make sense to us in order to be true. After all, God’s ways and thoughts are much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). He also call things that are not yet as though they already are something (Romans 4:17). It takes faith to believe the words that God speaks, especially when the words do not make sense. The “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11, lists many legendary people of faith who received wild promises from God and chose to believe them. If they could live and walk by faith, no matter how unbelievable their promises were, so can we. It is in light of this truth that I am sharing these words and insights the Lord revealed to me concerning the 48 states we visited. Let these words challenge you to believe God for surprising outcomes as you read and examine these posts. Let’s grow our faith together and see God rebuild America the Beautiful.
Next up on our journey are the great states of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Enjoy!
Illinois: “Oaks” of Righteousness (Isaiah 61) came to my mind for the people of Illinois. We didn’t spend much time in this state, but we did get to see the Chicago area and part of southern Illinois. We stayed on Lake Michigan at Illinois Beach State Park, which was refreshing. The northern part of Chicago, is really run-down. As we drove through it, I began to pray for the Lord to “raise up an MLK (a person like Martin Luther King, Jr.) from North Chicago to lead the people to Jesus for revival and restoration of their city and community.” I felt a very real and present heaviness in North Chicago. I was reminded “they are people that Jesus loves… the sheep of his pasture.” I also sensed that the Leviathan spirit of control is over Chicago. Believers must rise up in unity and worship to break its power. May Chicago be know as a city of freedom and light.
Like many who grew up in the 90s, my husband Gabe and I watch the Home Alone movies almost every year during Christmastime. When I found out the house in the movie is a real house in the Chicago area you can go see, it became a must on our travel list. To get there, we drove through beautiful neighborhoods near two universities. The homes and mansions were dreamy and immaculate. The Home Alone house definitely looked familiar to us, but it had also changed in many ways from how it once looked in the movies. If you’re a Home Alone fan, it’s worth the stop if you’re in the area. After that, we went to a well-known pizza place called Giordano’s to enjoy some delicious deep dish Chicago-style pizza. Our server, Dean, was a really kind and helpful college student. We opened up a conversation with him to see where he was at with faith in God. He told us he was agnostic. Then Gabe shared the gospel with him and a picture on his phone of Jesus knocking on a door. Dean was amazed because a woman earlier that same day had said “God bless you” to him. Noticing he was receptive and not hostile at all, we began to prophesy to Dean that God’s favor is on his life, Jesus knows him and he wants to be his friend. He let me pray for him that God would reveal himself to him, bless him with favor, give him direction for his future and connect him with other believers. It was such a sweet moment and he seemed grateful for this blessing. I really believe this interaction will lead Dean to Jesus (and perhaps he has already found him). You will not believe that right after this happened at lunch, we walked back to our van to find a sticker on the front of it that said, “A trans sexual peed here.” There was a wet spot on the pavement right below the sticker. This was the first and only time our van was vandalized on the whole trip. Apparently, Satan didn’t like us sharing Jesus’ love in Chicago… too bad for him!
Dean insisted we take Lake Shore Drive while listening to the old song of the same name, as we drove through downtown Chicago. It was a perfect! The sun was shining and the lake was idyllic as we wove along the tall buildings. I’ve heard Chicago is a super dangerous war-zone, and I’m sure that some parts are, but I was surprised to see so many beautiful parts of the city that feel safe. In order to avoid some tolls though, we did end up driving through some scary parts of southern Chicago. Thankfully, it was broad daylight and we didn’t have any issues. My prayer for the area of South Chicago is that it will become a place of peace.
On the second half of the trip, we passed though some farmland and small towns in southern Illinois. I heard these words from the Lord for this part of the state: “My people will rest from their labor” and “It’s the crossroads of America.”
Indiana: is “a light in the storm.” We were only in Indiana for a short time, but we did stop in Michigan City. We arrived at Washington Park Beach just in time to see a gorgeous sunset near the lighthouse on the lake. Our time there would have been more enjoyable, but the incredibly strong wind coming off the lake was pelting us with sand from head to toe. Walking was a challenge, and opening and closing the van door was extremely difficult. It was some of the strongest wind I’ve ever felt, but the sunset was beautiful. The two things which stood out to me as we drove through this northern part of the state were (oddly) rust and fireworks. On the second half of the trip, as we passed through the scenic countryside of southern Indiana, I heard the Lord say: It’s a “place where my peace rests.”
Michigan: is “God’s country.” I believe the Holy Spirit is moving in a mighty way across Michigan. We spent three days in this state to visit friends and family. Gabe actually lived in two different cities in Michigan when he was a kid. Since he lived in multiple different states growing up, I have always wanted to go see the homes he lived in. I am happy to say we were able to see all but one of these homes during this trip. Our first stop was in Holland, which is a little Dutch town. We visited the vast beach at Holland State Park, which was the first time I was able to get close to Lake Michigan. The lake was unbelievable to me because it looked and felt just like a freshwater ocean. It was both strange and fascinating. Then we drove over to the home Gabe lived in as a toddler in Midland. He didn’t have any memories from this house, since he was so young. However, we did get interrogated by a rude and nosey neighbor lady from across the street (we were only taking pictures from the sidewalk and not trespassing at all). She was probably the rudest person we met on the whole trip. From there, it was a short drive over to Bay City to visit Gabe’s other childhood home. We were hoping not to have another awkward interaction with anyone at this house, but we encountered a surprise. While we were taking pictures of the house, a family rolled up in a car, which made us nervous. They started talking to us and we found out they live in the house. Instead of being upset, they were amazed Gabe had lived in the house and they invited us to come inside! This was one of Gabe’s favorite childhood homes because he had so many special memories from growing up there. It felt like we walked into a dream as we stepped inside the house with the kind couple. They showed us the living room and kitchen before taking us into the backyard. We visited for quite a while with them, sharing stories about living in the house. It filled all our hearts with joy. It shocked us that a couple would show their house to two random people off the street without any prior notice. It was definitely a moment only God could orchestrate and it was such a blessing to us.
After this surreal experience, we drove to the adorable little German town of Frankenmuth for dinner. The pretty buildings were lit up and there was a festive atmosphere all around. Our friend Will recommended Zehnder’s, where we were served a delicious multicourse dinner with dessert. It was amazing and I highly recommend it! After dinner, we finally arrived at Will’s house in a small town north of Detroit. Even though we had never met Will in person before, he warmly welcomed us like family. He instantly became our brother in Jesus. We had a wonderful weekend encouraging one another, praying together and sharing testimonies. We’re so thankful for his hospitality and friendship.
While driving through Detroit, I was reminded of the scripture which talks about rebuilding the ancient ruins in Isaiah 61:4. Detroit definitely needs to be rebuilt and revitalized, but thankfully God is calling people to this city to do just that. Gabe’s friend Isaac and his family moved to Dearborn to be missionaries to the Muslim population there. We met up with Isaac for lunch to hear how God has been working in this city. He showed us a church near a park where he does prayer walks. God started giving him opportunities to serve at the church and build a relationship with the pastor. Isaac is believing for revival in the city and we prayed with him next to this church for God to move there. It was powerful!
Our last stop in Michigan was to visit my cousins in Grass Lake. The timing was perfect since that day just so happened to be my cousin Jon’s birthday! The party was great and Jon took us out for a relaxing ride in his boat on Goose Lake. God’s timing continually amazed me on this trip. Only he could have planned this.
I hope you enjoyed reading about God’s surprises and impeccable timing on this leg of the road trip. Have a great week and I’ll see you soon!
The Overcomers 
Leave a comment