I love looking back in my life to see how God has used previous events in my present circumstance. Sometimes it is many years before I see pieces of the puzzle fitting together, when the picture called “Life” gains clarity. Other times it is just days or even hours before I realize, ”Hey…that’s why God allowed that to happen!” Most recently, and one of the more dramatic events when I have seen this in my life, surrounds our move here to Vallejo.
As I replay it in my mind, I trace God’s hand of providence at work many years prior to this past fall. I see God leading us to a church in Burbank, where Brian Shealy was pastoring. Then I see us serving in Honduras, with my husband Adrian beginning the work of Dean as he helped establish a seminary, under the guidance of Exalting Christ Ministries and CBC Vallejo. I also remember so clearly my pregnancy in 2009 with our seventh baby, plus the instability of the government in Honduras in those months, which led us to consider returning to the states to deliver this baby.
So with the encouragement of the elders at CBC, we made plans to stay in Vallejo for a year. We had never lived in Vallejo, and really only know a few families from the church, but we looked forward to this time, not only to deliver our baby in the upcoming months, but also for the time of spiritual refreshment. We had been living in Honduras seven years, and only been home for short times on very busy furloughs, so this would be a big change.
I can remember how we met so many of the CBC families as they brought over needed household items. Adrian jumped into seminary classes, teaching a few and also taking a few. He spent time with the faculty and students, and built relationships with the elders of CBC. Our children attended youth group and Wednesday night children’s programs for the first time, and met many new friends. And of course, we welcomed our little Jeremiah into the world!
But as the summer of 2010 ended, we set our hearts and eyes back on Honduras, where we would be returning in October. The excitement grew in our children to return to our Honduras “Home”, and we packed up again and returned to Siguatepeque, ready to delve into ministry. We jumped right in, and the months flew by. Now in my mind, I see that it has been 12 months since we had left Vallejo…a whole year had just flown by! And I cannot help but see God’s hand guiding and directing, and re-directing, these next steps.
In September of 2010, an “idea” was presented to Adrian. Brian Shealy would be taking a pastorate in Florida and the Dean position was offered to Adrian. Through prayer and counsel, Adrian agreed to this new opportunity. So we packed up the whole house this time, loaded the seven kids plus the family dog, and jumped back on the plane, headed once more to Vallejo!
That brings me to April of 2012. It has been an incredible 3 ½ months. In fact, we can still hardly believe we live here and that we are not on another furlough. We actually live here in Vallejo. We are so grateful to see God’s work over these months and years. That temporary stay in Vallejo a few years back was actually a divinely appointed internship for Adrian! That year provided the necessary exposure for Adrian, as well as the Cornerstone faculty, to bring everything together for this new arrangement. That stay paved the way for us as a family also. The kids met friends and we settled down just long enough to have it feel like we had a home to come back to. Our transition from the mission field to State-side living has been so much easier because of the previous experience we had. God had been so kind to us to work out such a wonderful way to transition back here!
That is one of the beauties of walking with God. He has every detail of our lives perfectly planned out, in the most amazing ways, although it can take some time until we see how all the loose threads in our life will come together.
I know each of you ladies who has a husband at Cornerstone Seminary has a story to tell about God’s guiding hand that has brought you here, and I do hope I get to hear a few of those stories!
God bless you as you support your man in ministry--
Stephanie Donato, wife of Adrian, Dean of the Cornerstone Seminary
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