In my previous entry, I shared some seemingly random, cold-prompted reflections on geese. To recap, the inspiration for that post was a text from a friend, letting me know that God told her to tell me He said “Geese”.
After writing that blog, I didn’t contemplate the geese too much, unless I encountered them in the wild. But at the time, I wondered if there was a significant event in my history that involved geese.
It turns out, there was. And I had forgotten about it.
To clarify, I hadn’t forgotten the event—it was actually an unforgettable moment. But I had forgotten that it featured geese.
Geese: The Origin Story
I’ll recount the moment by sharing an excerpt from my memoir, The Widower and the Washer.
December is not warm in this part of the country, so there was already a thin sheet of ice covering the lake. Still, it was a sunny day and more than pleasant enough for a walk. We didn’t make it to the dam this time. Instead, we stopped at a small fishing pier. Next to the pier, several hundred birds gathered around a watering hole near the shore.
As we stood on the pier, I broke into a long-winded and poorly rehearsed, rambling lead-up to the big question. For her part, Angela graciously grinned and looked up at me with an expression that said, “I wish you would cut the preamble and just ask already.” Which eventually, I did—on one knee—while producing the ring from my pocket.
Angela said yes, I put the ring on her hand, then God did His thing.
The birds broke into a wild cheer.
They didn’t chirp, squawk, or do anything that you would expect birds to do. They cheered, and they sounded human doing it. Much like the crowd at a sporting event. I will never know if God supplied the birds with human voices for this occasion, much like He did for Balaam’s donkey, or if they were a gathering of incognito angels. But one thing we were sure of was that God had plans for our marriage.
The cheering birds in that passage? Yep—geese. I trust you understand how I forgot this detail, as my attention that day was (rightly) on Angela and not the local wildlife.
With my memory of that detail hazy, I went back to the (less hazy, but still early phone-camera resolution) photo evidence. Confirmed. Geese.
But is this why God said ‘Geese’?
I don’t know, but let’s consider the possibility.
A Significant Moment
Now that this important gap in my memory has been restored, I can say with certainty that December 22, 2010 was the date of my most significant interaction with geese. Through them, God declared not only His presence in that moment, but His participation in our joy. Both of these truths mattered then, and they both matter now.
God’s Presence
As followers of Jesus, we understand that God is ever present with us. He does not leave nor forsake us, and He is always prepared to hear our prayers. His Spirit equips and guides us in all manner of things He would have us do, from the mundane to the miraculous.
Still, there is something noteworthy about God’s presence in this moment, when Angela and I became engaged. His presence in that moment was a down payment on His promise to be present in and throughout our marriage. One of the major themes of The Widower and the Washer is koinonia, the New Testament ideal of partnership and community.
My hope was that the story of two ordinary people partnering with God and each other to serve His kingdom in small ways would encourage other believers in their marriages (and perhaps encourage those who don’t know Jesus to meet him).
God’s Participation
By giving voice to the geese, God showed Himself to be an active participant in our engagement (and really, all the steps leading to that moment). In doing so, He reminded us that He is not an ornament, not a passive observer, but a hands-on servant-leader kind of God.
I invite everyone to take a moment to dwell on that wonderful truth. The Creator of the universe and all that it contains is specifically and deliberately participating in your story and mine.
Isn’t that great news!
When I drafted my memoir, I was able to see with the clarity that only hindsight offers, the myriad ways that God’s hand guided and directed multiple facets of our shared life and service. Again, my hope was that conveying God’s active role in our lives in the pages of my book would encourage other journeys.
Could this be why God told me geese’? To remind me that the geese are still cheering our story?
Beyond the Geese
Before I answer that question, let me take a quick aside. As I draft this on a Sunday afternoon, I recall what the preacher said just a few hours ago: It can be dangerous to fixate on signs. If we let them, signs can become idols that inhibit our ability to see the One behind the sign.
So, if I’m going to live what the preacher said (and I really ought to, since I was the preacher), I need to stop looking for the geese, or at the geese, and look beyond the geese. For this moment, that means focusing instead on God’s participation in my story.
As I’ve shared before, it was clear to me in the months following Angela’s departure that God compelled and directed the writing of my memoir. And despite the pain of writing about my grief in near-real time, God gave me the grace and peace to complete the work of preserving our shared story.
But how can the geese—or anybody—cheer if they never see the story?
Engage, Share, Repeat
Most writers are introverts. This one is no exception. And we’re quick to tell you that writing is the easy part. (Editing is the less easy, mostly tedious part.) Marketing a book? That’s the hard part.
You want us to talk to people? Convey excitement? Sell something? Ummm … a thousand times no! There’s a reason we hunker down with our keyboards and engage in this highly individualized activity.
Nevertheless, marketing is a necessary reality of writing. Not just for profit, which is fine, but in this case for a far more important reason:
- God gave me a story that He wanted me to preserve.
- God has been cheering this story from the beginning.
- God is still cheering this story, and He wants me to join in the chorus.
- My role is to obey.
Last year, when The Widower and the Washer was released, God put my writing on hold. All of the other tasks on my priority list meant I had little time to promote my book. And to be sure, sales numbers reflect that story.
Now, as I return to a season of writing, will He open doors for me to promote my book and get the story to the places He wants it to go? I sure hope so, and I am prepared to do my part.
But first, God, could you send someone to teach me how?
