Watching God Move

Watching God move is a lot like watching the wind. I can't see the wind. I can't watch the air move and flow around me. But I can see the effects of the wind. I can see what it does, what it affects, what it touches. I can see it in the trees, across the water, in leaves rolling down the street. I can hear it through the drafty windows of my old house. I can smell wind traveling along as I get whiffs of neighborhood cookouts or nearby farms. 

How do I know God is moving? I may not be able to see God, but I can see the effects of every wave of His hand, every smile on His face, every nod of encouragement. Over the past two years and a few odd months, I have been blessed to be witness to God moving at the University of Dubuque. 

I have probably told you this before, but when I interviewed at UD for the Director of Student Activities position, I nearly called off the interview because I wasn't feeling too well. I decided that would probably hurt my chances of getting a job, so I fought to get out of bed, take a shower, make myself presentable, and get there on time. I was on campus for over ten hours, attending interviews with students, staff, the president, faculty, the search committee...so many people. I was brought on campus tours, drug to two different evening activities, then finally sent on my way, exhausted. I remember getting in my car and just sitting there with my head against the steering wheel, tears running down my face. In nearly every interview, to nearly every person that asked a question, I had answered, "I don't know," or "I don't really have any experience with that." I felt completed inadequate, uneducated, and inexperienced in just about every way possible. 

I drove home that night feeling like I had blown it completely, but still, there was something resonating in my head, something I couldn't shut off or ignore. Jeff Bullock, the president of UD, had taken time out of his day to meet one-on-one with me, and I had asked him if there was one thing that I needed to know before I left campus that day, what would it be. He paused, leaned back in his chair, looked out the window, and started to smile. He looked back at me and said, "There is something going on here." He continued to say that he didn't know how to put it in any better words than that, but that you could just feel something happening, as if the campus was on the verge of some sort of miracle. And, frankly, after more than ten years of miracles that have kept this place alive, the fact that you can still feel that something is beyond amazing. 

After drying my tears and setting into bed for the night, my heart settled into a new place very quickly as well. Somehow I knew that despite how I thought that interview went that day, there was something that I was supposed to be a part of at UD. It was somewhat laughable that I'd ever end up there based on my performance that day, but I still knew that I was going to end up there somehow, someday. It was only three days later that I received a call asking if I would accept the position. God moved. 

Ever since then, I have been witness to that indescribable something happening on this campus. In two years' time, two campus administrators have been called by God to be here - the Dean of Student Life and the Vice President of Academic Affairs. Both of these men were more than well established in their careers elsewhere. Mick had spent more than twenty five years at UW-La Crosse and assumed he would retire in that beloved city. Mark and Annalee left twenty five years of experience at Trinity Christian College, a community that they had made a significant impact on and that dearly loved them. People like this don't just one day get an itch and pack up and start over. Not on their own. Having only been in any sort of career for five years or so, I can't imagine what twenty five years in one place feels like, but if I were to multiply my feelings for two years here out to twenty five or so, the connections would be nearly unbreakable. But God moves. 

He moves in our hearts, moves in our world, and although I can't see him, look at all the effects! Look at everything He's doing! Something is going on here. God is orchestrating something that is so much bigger than each of us that has been called here could ever accomplish on our own. What an honor to be able to witness the God of the universe moving in the hearts and lives of people right here. 

John 3:8 says, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." And I think what that's saying is that we don't know the plans that God has for us, we can't anticipate or plan for or design lives according to our plans. But the wind does come and go with purpose and direction, just as God moves with purpose and direction. Even if we can't see it or understand it. Today I am overwhelmed by these thoughts. My heart is full with the goodness of God, His very magnificence. Something is going on here.