God provides in ways that you can never imagine!

This year has been an interesting one...one of the book biggest blessings has been God's provision and love. Material things are not necessary important, but when you are blessed; sometimes it's hard to stay silent.

I have been spending a lot of time on leadership podcasts. My favorite is Perry Noble, a pastor I have followed and has mentored me through his preaching and books. During one of the leadership podcasts, they were talking about his new leadership book and an opportunity to win a signed copy. I won! The best part is what happened after. I got a shoutout on the leadership podcast and decided to respond. I sent Perry a cheesehead and an encouraging card about the investment in my, my wife's and teens lives. 

You never want to lose your laptop in ministry...my 6 year old Mac was on its last leg. I spent a day working on it, knowing I had little time before it would never turn on again. The next day, I went on a bike ride to clear my mind and try to focus on my Sunday morning sermon. As I was leaving; I received a text, would you like a new laptop? How? When? Why? Absolutely! The Mac I was given was 3 times better than my old one; more memory, more storage, better hardware and one of the best gifts I have received.

I got a text about what I was doing one night. Only to find out a friend had an extra pre-season Packer ticket. We parked for free on the streets and I was able to go to a Packer game for free!

Out of the blue, I was Facebook tagged. Michael Ott congratulations you won a free year's worth of youth ministry curricululem! Wow, being part of the DYM Facebook page has just blessed me. Not just curriculum, but PowerPoint games and graphics. 

I could talk about checks in the mail, giftcards showing up or encouraging words from others this year...the point is: God provides and in some seasons He goes way farther than you can imagine! Not every season will you see this; but God uses a variety of things to show of His love!