Divine Appointment II

It happened.

Least when anyone would expect it.

My day in Shawnee, Oklahoma will be forever remembered as the day when one of the Colossal of Clout returned. It occurred in the Holiday Express workout room, hardly a place where glory would show itself so vividly. As I was exercising my legs and burning some unwanted calories, a man walked into the room. We exchanged greetings and after a few minutes begin to share our backgrounds and story. Dan was a rodeo man. Tough, rugged, and from what I could see, bore the brand marks of his trade very well. He was a bull rider and proud of it. In fact he was not as normal as one would think. He had been led to the Lord at a rodeo school years ago and was pulling cowboys to the cross faster than most can tie a steer. He loved the Lord and loved the gospel.

I wanted to connect with this man on as deep of level as I could. I quickly fished for stories and experiences that I had so we could talk ministry. I proudly told him at one time, I had pulled gates for a rodeo school near Hutchinson, Kansas. I was honest. I told that I had never been on a bull but I did know of a cowboy named Lyle who could only be linked to legendary stories that few could even grasp as possilbly true. It was fun to share some cowboy guff.

We couldn't believe what happened next. Much like Indiana Jones when he found the grail, Dan and I both looked at each other in awe as the door to the room opened and in walked (more aptly put, limped) Lyle Sankey! We both froze. I quickly retreated off of my elliptical trainer and offered it to him. When I shook his hand it felt like a combination of BJ Forguson's power grip and the Incredible hulk. You might as well could of run over my arm with a steam roller. It was pure strength. No doubt this hand had gripped the best bulls in the world (including Bodacious...legend says that Lyle was one of the few that actually rode him out to the bell). I only had but a minute. I shared my USA Today with Lyle and quietly slipped out the door to leave him with Dan (who looked like he was talking with the President...Lyle had actually led him to the Lord at the rodeo school he attended when Dan was very young).

Being in the presence of greatness is awesome. My week of divine appointments was topped off by the best one any of us could ever imagine. As my friend Keith told me this week, all appointments are divine. God is always at work. He is right.

Bring on the Bee.

What next? Sparky and Nails at the breakfast bar?