Across the Pastor’s Desk by Nancy Overgaard

I survived a polar plunge this past year, though not the kind you might think of. I am not yet ready (nor will I ever be) to jump through a hole in the ice into frigid winter waters. What I did do, however, was follow the Lord’s leading to return to school at the age of 60.

It was a shock to the system! But God upheld me and wrapped me in His warmth throughout my glacial immersion. To my surprise, I found that as I plunged into the icy waters of secularism that are endemic in the current academic climate, my faith was revitalized and reinvigorated.

I also found that, by standing out on the edge of the unknown again and again, I was both witness to and recipient of the undeserved kindness, mercy and grace of God to see me through. Many are the examples, but here are a few shared in the hope that they will refresh and stimulate your own faith.

Worn out from the semester yet facing one more major paper, I had an off-handed conversation with a classmate. In it, I learned of requirements for the paper I was unaware of. The instructions I thought we were to follow turned out to be only a partial summary, not the detailed directions provided online. My classmate kindly located, downloaded and printed the comprehensive instructions for me, then left.

Glancing over the lengthy instructions, I noticed a requirement that we include a counseling model unfamiliar to me. To my dismay, I had just returned a textbook on that exact topic, and it was too late to get it back. A supervisor had recommended the book and loaned it to me without my even asking; but, I had returned it, not wanting to misplace or damage it and thinking I had no immediate need for it.

My energy waning, I decided to do one more brief, unrelated task before going home: to find and download guest lecture notes posted online for us to print for future reference. As I searched for the guest lecture, I noticed the title to another lecture I had forgotten about. That lecture was on the specific topic needed for the paper I had yet to write. The lecture notes were even better than the textbook I unwittingly returned since key information was condensed into easy-to-review bullet points.

Without the seemingly accidental conversation with my classmate, my paper would have been lacking vital detail. Without the impromptu decision to print guest lecture notes, I would never have discovered the lecture notes pertinent to my paper.

I left wondering who might be praying for me. God had so graciously intervened to give me help I did not even know I needed without my even praying for it. I learned on arrival home that my landlady, a Christian, had been praying throughout the day for me, and had asked a Catholic friend to do the same.

Teaching on prayer, Jesus told His disciples, “Your heavenly Father knows what you have need of, even before you ask” (Matthew 6:8). He sure does. “Call on Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know,” God encouraged Jeremiah (Jeremiah 33:3).

As my finances ran low at the end of the semester, I cut back on groceries to stay within budget but found myself hungry for fruit one day. Recalling how God had specifically answered our prayers for fruit when serving as a missionary in Lebanon, I prayed for fruit. Tired, yet with another paper to complete after a long day of exams, I made some tea and went to the student lounge to drink it and rest a minute.

There, on the table, was a plate of fruit, blueberries and raspberries, honeydew and cantaloupe, tangerines and apples. It is customary that food leftover from luncheons of the day is brought to the student lounge where we are free to eat it. Other students had eaten their fill over the day, and the building was quiet, staff and students gone home. So, the little plate was mine.

If God is leading you to do something unexpected in the coming year, expect that He will prove faithful, for that is endemic to who He is. May your leap of faith lead to spiritual refreshing for you and blessing for others.

The Rev. Nancy Overgaard has served as a pastor, a missionary and a chaplain. She is working on a Master of Arts in addiction counseling.