“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:11-12

I don’t believe in coincidence. I believe God has a plan and every instance is a part of that plan. A couple weeks ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to go to Nashville and attend the Dove Awards, Christian music’s version of the Grammy Awards. The story of how it all came to be has God stamped all over it, with connections and conversations that could only have come to be with His guidance.


Looking back now, I know that we were brought there for His purpose. My Nashville connection goes back to 1994, when my husband played minor league baseball. It was the one year that the Minnesota Twins had the double-A affiliate in Nashville. We shared a stadium with the Sounds, the triple-A team that has been there for years. Living in Music City was a blast. While we didn’t do everything the tourists do, we did our fare share. Of course, we saw Opryland and downtown. We ventured into the Wildhorse Saloon after games. We lived there, worked there and made friends there.

For anyone familiar with the baseball life, you know that it’s a nomadic lifestyle and there’s a tendency not to get too attached to any place you live because tomorrow, it could be in the past for you. But Nashville was special for many reasons. It’s where I learned how to be a “baseball wife.” It’s where I made friendships that I cherish to this day. It’s where I did a lot of growing up and growing together with Steve.

A lot of those emotions came back in an overwhelming way when I returned a few weeks ago, for the first time in nearly 16 years. I forgot just how great a place Nashville was and how much of our country’s musical history is there. Our little group spent a day downtown and an unbelievable night praising God and celebrating the best in Christian music. A lot of the conversation was about God’s blessing and how He’s using us for something bigger than we know.

And then, there was the flood. As I watched the spotty coverage over the weekend, and followed the twitter reports of so many on the ground in Tennessee, my heart started to break. As the days have passed and the assessments of destruction begin to rise, especially in so many of those landmark places, I can’t seem to stop thinking about it. I am praying for our country to respond to our fellow Americans in the same manner we would if it were a devastating earthquake or tsunami in some other part of the world. We don’t seem to realize how widespread the impact of this flood has been and will continue to be.

God put me and my friends there for a reason. We knew it was to deepen our connections to each other. But, perhaps, He also had us there so that when this horrible disaster happened (and He knew it was going to), we would experience a broken heart and help to show those affected that the rest of the world DOES care and will help. And, maybe, helping to spread the word will cause others to pray, help and glorify Him by loving one another and coming together in a time of great need.