Me Thinks

We drove from Cebu across the island for a double-zone conference in Toledo. After the conference, we had some interviews, then we dropped the assistants off at an apartment of missionaries where they were spending the night, and then we drove to our hotel. The security guard would not let us in. Even after we showed him our confirmation code, he would not let us in. We found out that the hotel had been booked for the wrong night, and we were out of luck. There was a large golf tournament happening the next day at the resort, so all of the rooms were booked. Oh my! What were we to do? This is not Utah where you drive down I-15 and see multiple options. It was dark and we were in an unfamiliar place. The security guard recommended a place to us and we drove there. It looked completely dead and dark with no lights on and the office locked.  Matthew walked around the hotel property and found some people in the pool who directed him as to where he could find the woman in charge. She took one look at Matthew and said that she most certainly did not have a room with a bed that would fit him. She recommended another place to us, so we set out again to find it. It was down an alley; we pulled in and parked. Matthew inquired about a room and he was shown a sample room. It was a small room with no frills, no hot water, a bucket and a ladle in the shower area, and a foam pad instead of a mattress, but we took it. We had been praying that we could find a clean room to spend the night somewhere and the Lord directed us. 

Maybe you have heard the story about the man who is in a flood. He is stranded on a rooftop and prays to God for help, asking God to save him directly. A small boat comes by and the occupant of the boat yells to the stranded man, offering him a ride. The man declines and explains that he is waiting for the answer to prayer that he had requested. This is kind of how we felt. We had been praying to find a place to stay once we knew our reservation was not valid. The hotel room which we found was not a fancy room, but it was adequate. We slept well and cleaned ourselves off in the morning and were able to arrive at the church a little early for interviews. This was a special miracle for us because we knew of no other options in the town we were in. God led us to the people who could direct us to the hotel that had a room for us.