Stories from the Heart

When It All Comes Together 

 Growing up in the eighties was an adventure. We didn’t have cell phones or tablets to keep us busy, we had our bikes, our friends, and an adventurous spirit. Whether it was playing out in the woods behind our house on East Mitchell street in Northern Michigan or spending a few weeks during the summer at my grandma’s farm, we had fun and didn’t need anything artificial to help us or give us ideas.  

I mean, on my grandma’s farm I didn’t need YouTube videos to encourage me to tease the mean bull my grandma had in the barn. And when he had grown tired of my taunting and teasing and decided to kick the stall door in and come out, well let’s just say, had an NFL scout seen how fast I could run, I would have been signed to a long term contract! My grandma had watched me and my friend come running out of the barn at full speed, with a thousand pound plus bull in hot pursuit! She said she had never seen two boys clear a seven foot fence with such ease as we did. Thankfully, we made a sharp turn towards the iron gate once over the fence because that crazy eyed bull leapt over that fence right behind us, taking the top boards with him.  

Thus began my history of close calls and wild adventures! Oh boy, I love when a plan comes together! One of my favorite shows was the A-Team. The opening monologue was moving  enough to make a one eyed bull frog happy. "Ten years ago, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team." When that show came out, it wasn’t long before I had all the action figures, B.A. Baracus, Face Man, Mad Dog Murdock, and Colonel John ‘Hannibal’ Smith. I had their van, the gyrocopter, and the corvette. One of my favorite lines was from their leader, Hannibal, who at the end of a successful mission, would smile and say, “I love when a plan comes together.”  

So, whether jumping off the roof of my cousin’s garage, over and over, or attempting to stay upright on my bike as I hurtled down a steep hill, knowing I wasn’t going to make it to the bottom without wiping out, walking away from it always made me say, “I love when a plan comes together.” Life isn’t always the fun adventure, though, that we might have enjoyed as kids. Life can throw us a curveball at times, but having faith gets us through those moments and when we look back, we see God had a plan all along.  

When I married my wife, a childhood illness that had gone undetected left her in renal failure. Yet against the advice of our doctor, we decided to have a child and in 1996 my wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Because of my wife’s failing kidneys she was considered high risk and so throughout the pregnancy, she received almost weekly sonograms to monitor the baby. We got to watch that little baby grow on a weekly basis. I love when a plan comes together.   

At age thirty-two my wife found herself on dialysis and a year later, through what can only be described as a miracle, a young lady in our church and only in her early twenties, was a perfect match, closer than my wife’s own siblings. What inspired her to donate? A dream she had had in which she had donated her kidney. When she came to church and said God wanted her to donate a kidney because of her dream,  there was some skepticism, knowing that the chances of a match were low. But after the tests came back, the doctors at LifeLink were amazed - she was perfect. I love when a plan comes together.  

We celebrated thirty-four years of marriage this summer. The ups and downs of life, deep valleys, impossible mountains, highs and lows, laughter and tears, we’ve experienced it all. And as we look back, we can say as well as many of you can, “I love when a plan comes together!” 

Jesse currently pastors Chokoloskee Family Church on Chokoloskee Island along with his wife Charity. They are beginning their seventh year and have overseen the construction of a new 160 seat church that is scheduled to open in August of this year. Their growing congregation keeps them busy with local outreaches and  community events. They have two grandkids that live in the area who also attends their church along with their daughter and son in-law.