Talk about cool...take 10 minutes and read this.

I sat down this morning with my usual bowl of Wheaties and glass of orange juice.  The Wheaties as usual did not have any milk on them.  I don't like wet cereal, call me weird, but I've always done it that way.  I love milk just not on breakfast cereal.  Anyway, all of that is beside the point.  I opened up my email and had nine or ten emails to read from yesterday and this morning.

I expected the typical emails from the University of Toledo about what is going on around campus and emails from the physical therapy program about volunteer opportunities and about various things we need to do as DPT students.  The emails I received were exactly what I anticipated...except one.  I hesitated to click on this particular email because it looked like this:

No subject in the subject line and from a sender that I didn't recognize; I didn't know what to expect.  I decided to open the email and see what it was all about.  If it was spam then I'd delete it, block the sender and be done with it, but this email wasn't spam.  This email was cool.  Here is what it said:

Hello! 

I hope this is not too creepy! I just wanted to thank you and share a word of encouragement. I just got wait listed from a DPT program and googled "DPT wait list" and your blog came up. And as I read I was SO thankful to see a fellow believer of unwavering faith. As a stranger you have encouraged me in ways you will never know. Our God is so good.  Thank you! I will pray for you as you start your DPT program. And I hope to see you on the other side of eternity!

My initial thought was how did this person find out who I was and how did she contact me?  I sat and thought about how she would have first of all found this blog by a simple Google search and secondly found a way to contact me.  So, I typed exactly what she said she did into Google and sure enough the fifth result was a link to my blog entry about being placed on the waiting list for DPT schools.  Question number one had been answered, but what about number two?  Then it hit me.  A couple of months ago, I added an "About Me" tab to this blog on which I talked about who I am and in brief, my journey to DPT school.  On the very last part of the page, I listed my email address just in case there was a rare occasion that anyone wanted to contact me about what I had to say.

I completely forgot that I had put my email address on the blog in part because no one had ever emailed me.  Well, there is a first time for everything and today was the day I received the first email about my blog.  

An email from someone I had never met, blew me away and absolutely made my day.  The Lord is using me to reach out to people in my local community, my immediate friends, family and people I have never met, let alone talked to.  Here was my reply this morning:

Hey!

This just made my day.  You have no idea.  When I initially set up my blog and put my contact information on there I didn't think anyone would contact me.  I actually forgot that I had put my email information on there in the first place.  Don't let you faith waver.  As a result of being wait listed, my faith only got stronger.  The Lord has a plan for you and your life.  He may be saying wait for you for DPT school or He may be saying no altogether.  You need to remain steadfast and trust the Lord's plan.  It may be difficult at times, don't get me wrong, but you WILL end up where God wants you to be.

Where did you apply for school?  Still out on the east coast?  Are you from out there originally?  I have family out in Ocean, New Jersey!

I would like to talk about the email you sent me in a blog entry.  Is that okay with you?  If not it's okay.  I won't use your name.  I just wanted to run it by you first before I went and started sharing about it.  I just think this is so awesome!

A great start to my day and it's only 10 AM.

Our Lord is so so good, don't ever lose sight of that.  If you need any information about DPT school, the application process or anything please let me know and I'd be glad to help!

Take care,

Brandon

I feel like sometimes as we as followers of Christ and even non-followers of Christ we may wonder, "How could the Lord possibly use me?".  This is a thought that at times I have had myself.  The reality of it is though, that no matter how close or how distance you may be from the Lord, your story matters.  No matter how good or how terrible your past my be, the Lord wants you to become closer to Him and He CAN use you to reach out to others.  The Lord is already standing there hugging you, He loves you, He is just waiting for you to hug Him back.  

Here for me, an opportunity to reach out to and help someone who I have never met.  I've said this already but this is so cool.  The Lord is using me in a way that I would have never expected and I am soaking up every minute of it.  So I encourage you to share any of my entries with people you know that may find them interesting, encouraging or just want to read about the life of a twenty something in grad school.  

I was given permission by the sender to use this email for a blog entry or else I wouldn't have shared this unique experience.  She also gave me permission to use her name, however I decided to refrain to ensure confidentiality.  

God is using me and He can use you!

Best,

Brandon

brandon.bowers@rockets.utoledo.edu