New skis, a mystery, and the flying Swede....

We were in the beautiful mountains of Keystone, Co ready to start another awesome day of skiing with our dear friends the Love family when I recognized I had a serious problem. I had just picked up my skis from the shop were I left them to be waxed and sharpened. Then I realized there was some pretty big play in the binding of one of my skis. My family is a dynamite skiing family. We ski hard and we ski fast. Something like this could mean serious injury for a crazy wild man like me. I showed the problem to my friend BJ and sure enough he discovered an important component to my binding was missing. I reflected on the fact that I had gone 60.2 mph the day before and quickly thanked God I made it in one piece.

I immediately went into solution mode and just thought to myself I will walk right over rent some skis and hoped that wouldn't delay everyone waiting on me so we could get after it on the slopes. Well due to COVID 6ft distancing, the line to rentals was backed up and it caused a stall just long enough for my wife to spy a solo ski with a sign on it. "For Sale..-New..-$250...Rick...-Taxes." Tara called me and said that I should call "Rick." Thinking she might be crazy, I left the line and went to look at the ski and the price. Knowing that I would spend at least $250 on rentals for the rest of our time in CO (most likely much more)...I decided why not. I called Rick and he came out from parts unknown in the ski village and told me about the skis. They were brand new several years ago that he had used one time. The bindings were race bindings (worth at least $300) because he was a sponsored skier. He had switched sponsors and needed to get rid of all his previous sponsor gear while generating some cash....to pay his taxes apparently. :-). The bottom line. He and I were similar height and weight so the length and everything else was near perfect. Within 25 minutes I had a brand new pair of amazing skis, far better than my old, worth much more than I paid and far less than rentals. Even the design of the skis, the lettering, and the wood crest was like someone who really knew what I liked had hand picked these skis for me and dropped them in my lap.

Life is crazy right? The ups and downs. The daily obstacles. The frenzied pace at which most of us live and even vacation. I wanted to dive into this idea of the favor of God and His omniscient nature. That's a $20 word but it means "knowing everything." My opinion, when Someone knows everything that deserves a big word. As a follower of Christ, I am amazed at how detail oriented God can be in my life. In fact, sometimes it's the smallest of moments that give me the greatest opportunity to see this side of God in my life. Take the problem I had with my skis. Sure I could have stood in line and got some average skis to finish the trip out with. Yet God had a better plan. He wanted to show me that not only does He know my needs before I know them but He "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.." Eph 3:20. The tailored approach God used to provide me these skis left me thinking, "wow he really really knows me." I mean even the color of the bindings was an exact match to my current ski poles. A skeptic could argue that this was just coincidence but these type of mysterious provisions have happened so many times in my life...I know it can only be God. When we have our spiritual eyes open we can see that yes even in the smallest of details in our life God is at work. He loves to shower us with His favor and He is unlimited as to what He will use to show us His favor. I don't know about you but this understanding skyrockets my faith! If He can do this in the small, what can He do in those circumstances where it feels like mountains have to be moved in order to overcome?

Maybe I will be able to unpack the rest of this story for you in the future because the reality is this: This simple event of the mysterious nature of God's omniscient favor that day in Keystone was actually a harbinger He used to help me navigate a decision a month later that will impact my entire life. God's ways are mysterious my friend. Be curious and look for Him working all around you. I found Him at work in the beautiful mountains of Colorado and like a flying Swede those new skis helped me carve up the snow like a dream maxing out at a speed of 61.3.