Pain shot through my body as I rounded the corner and jammed my baby toe into the door casing while playing tag with Babers. I looked down, and it was definitely not as it should be. After gritting my teeth and trying many ways to put it back in place, we submitted to the idea of going to the hospital, which we have heard can be a LONG, unpredictable experience here. We knew we needed an X-ray. God, you must have a purpose for all this, I reasoned. May your will be done.
Just then, friends texted, inviting us to their house for coffee. We explained the situation, and they offered to drive us to the hospital.
God, if I am here at the hospital, there must be a reason. Open the door.
The X-ray showed that the toe was broken but not dislocated. I laughed and asked the doctor if my toe would stay out of place forever, and he asked the assistant to see what he could do. I gritted my teeth yet again, and the doctor finally asked, “So what brings you to Croatia?” After I shared a short version of our testimony, he turned his chair to face me. “And what did your 13-year-old daughter have to say about all this?” I then shared her testimony.
As I limped out to pay the bill and considered that my toe may be out of place forever, I heard God whisper, “Is it worth it to share Me?”
“Of course,” I replied. “OF COURSE!”
God had yet more in mind. Our friends had waited for us. So we decided to join them for coffee. They know we are missionaries, but God is not a priority in their lives. The husband has said before that money is the key to a good life. However, the wife is open to hearing my stories. Coffee soon turned into lunch. As we sat down to eat, my friend held out her hands and asked, “Don’t you all normally pray first?” The husband protested with a laugh but relented and let Teddy pray, though he kept his hands to himself. Afterward he looked at Teddy and asked, “So you don’t have a recited prayer?”
“No, we talk to God as a friend, like we speak to you. We speak to Him from our hearts.” Somehow we were also able to share a Bible story with them.
The wife is from another country, and she is learning Croatian, too. She knows I meet with my Baka (Croatian for “grandmother”) every week to learn the language and asked me to pray for her to find a Baka, too. As we were leaving, they asked us when I had broken my toe.
“Literally just before you texted,” I replied.
“This was God,” she said.
Teddy and I were both surprised when we heard him say, “This was a divine intervention.”
Please pray that this couple experiences God in their lives and discovers Him as their Friend, and that she finds a Baka of her own to help her learn this difficult language.
