I Know the Plans I Have for You: A Story of Missed Opportunities, Divine Intercessions?

As a teenager, Ron Coleman passed up some pretty amazing opportunities, all for reasons even he didn't understand. Upon graduation from high school and with no goals or ideas in mind about his future, he drifted along for a while. It was a very uncertain time. The Vietnam War draft was a looming threat to all able-bodied males of that age group. Eventually, with the draft about to call his number, he felt forced to enlist in the Air Force. Scared to death but much to his surprise, this new life led him on a path he never could have imagined.

While reflecting back on his life during preparations for his second and final retirement, Ron realized just how much God had influenced every aspect of his journey. What if he didn't have those surgeries as a toddler? What if he had been allowed to play sports at an earlier age? Why didn't he go to college when it was first offered? All he really knew for sure in those earliest years was that he was forced to go to church far more often than he wanted. What Ron wasn't aware of during all those church attendances was that God's love was quietly and securely being planted in his heart and mind. His faith, he learned later, was what had sustained him and stood out as a very important part of his life.

It was only when he took the time to think about everything that had happened in his life that he could see God's fingerprints on it all. Ron's story then gives credit where credit is due and hopefully enables others to know where and how to seek help when needed.

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