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Invincible Youth Ministry Conference Tour

Delays, Des Moines, The Mall of America and the Power of God

Posted on Friday 1 August 2008 by Greg @ 6:42 am
Filed under: Rants

Last weekend my son and daughter played the obligatory roles of ring bearer and flower girl in my nephew’s wedding in Des Moines. I barely made it there on Saturday morning after flight delays from Seattle into Chicago and then missing my connection (of course on the other side of Chicago O’Hare from where the Seattle flight landed) by seconds. There’s nothing more disappointing than getting to the gate and actually seeing the plane that you were supposed to get on pulling away.

I walked across the street to the Hilton and then ran out after I heard the words “$299 per night”. It was a $69 Super 8 night for me.

The wedding went fine. Jeremy and Kailey made it down the aisle. Thomas and Amy got married. All in all it was a fun day with my brother, his family and my Uncle Bob and his. We hung out, told stories and had a great time.

The next morning my wife and I woke up and realized that we were in Des Moines…so we drove our family 4 hours north to The Mall of America. Debb and I had never been there so we decided to make the trip. It was an absolute blast. The little amusement park they have there in the middle of the mall kept us busy for a day and the overpriced aquarium they have there kept us busy for an hour.

All is all we spent 26 hours in Minneapolis but it was a fun time. And the 4 hour trip back to the Des Moines airport was fun and fast (me speeding? say it isn’t so!)

Once again our flight got delayed and we ended up leaving hours after our scheduled flight. We had to divert around one of the biggest thunderstorms I have ever seen. Seeing it from the top was amazing. We had to divert from Iowa around South Dakota and finally back down to Denver on the other side of the storm.

For almost an hour my wife and I watched the lighting flash from above the storm. The lightning was almost constant, flashing with power on both sides of the plane in a brilliant light show. It was breathtaking, scary and awesome. Suffice it to say that nobody throws a fireworks show like God. I reassured my wife with the words “and think we are in a metal object flying above all this electricity.”

But in our heart of hearts we knew that it was not Thor but our Daddy in charge of those bolts. That hour was scary and sacred for me (isn’t it weird that the words “scared” and “sacred” are so close in spelling?) I thought about our current cash crunch at Dare 2 Share and some of the challenges we are facing as I looked at the storm. I realized that just like God was protecting our plane from the lightning bolts below us he was protecting Dare 2 Share from the flashing dangers around us. He carried my family safely home that night and will do the same with this ministry.

I love you Daddy!

Signed, Greg Stier

22 Comments for 'Delays, Des Moines, The Mall of America and the Power of God'

  1. On August 1, 2008 @ 7:13 am Brian said:
    • It can be tough during times of uncertainty. I know, Kim and I feel like we’re flying around our own storm. But, we’re also learning to have extreme faith knowing without a doubt God has something in store for us even when we can’t see through the clouds of uncertainty. In the meantime we’re trying to enjoy the sometimes scary and sacred light show in the process. We’re praying for you and D2S!

      [Reply to this comment]

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  2. On August 1, 2008 @ 9:41 am Scott Kelly said:
    • Greg - “and think we are in a metal object flying above all this electricity.”

      Priceless!

      When leaving for Taiwan from Minneapolis in ‘96, our 747 literally lost an engine on takeoff. It went “BANG!” and blew itself out. No damage debris, but we suddenly because a fully-laden jumbo jet flying with only 3 engines. We had to circle around the airport for about an hour dropping fuel into the clouds, because it wasn;t safe to land until we lightened up.

      My brother and I were in the isle seats while his family and my wife were in the center row. WE knew what happened, but they didn’t, and they were terrified. My bro and I didn’t help matters by talking out loud about how cool it was to see the plane dropping its fuel. (I have a great snapshot of this). Needless to say, our wives were not amused!

      [Reply to this comment]

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  3. On August 1, 2008 @ 10:57 am Scott Maxwell said:
    • Greg,
      I was reading your blog, and I didn’t really know how else to get in contact with you, but I was wondering if you could help me out. We are in the process of finishing the Gospel Journey at our church. We are going through it on Wed. nights at our church. Our students are on the edge of their seats each week. We have had the most students during the summer attending in a long time. So first of all thanks for coming up with the idea and secondly putting it out there to share with others. There has been some fantastic discussions about what they are watching. What I was wondering is if you could give us a recent update on the students who went on the journey. I wanted to be able to share with our students where these guys are now if you know. I really enjoy your blog and the ministry of Dare2Share. Thanks for your time. May God continue to get the Glory in all we do.

      In HIm,
      Scott Maxwell
      Minister to Students
      FBC Powder Springs, GA

      [Reply to this comment]

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  4. On August 1, 2008 @ 1:25 pm Heather said:
    • Gotta LOVE the Mall of America :) that’s my hometown there!

      You guys ar pretty fortunate the plan didn’t get hit by the lightening!

      [Reply to this comment]

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  5. On August 2, 2008 @ 3:28 pm Rose said:
    • Arn’t storms awesome?But…..yeah,it would be scary to be in a plane during it.I would LOVE to see it in a plane,even though I would be scared to death probably!But……..I LOVE storms!I’m glad you had a good time.BYE!

      [Reply to this comment]

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  6. On August 2, 2008 @ 4:20 pm Becky said:
    • God’s amazing.

      [Reply to this comment]

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  7. On August 2, 2008 @ 8:43 pm Dana said:
    • I’m glad you enjoyed the MOA. Tim and I aren’t too impressed with it ’cause we don’t like to shop, but I can see that it’d be fun with kids. We only take family there if they haven’t seen it before when they come for a visit.

      Question…(<–my all time favorite line from The Office)
      Do you ever get recognized by people in airports while you’re traveling?

      [Reply to this comment]

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  8. On August 3, 2008 @ 7:22 am Greg Stier said:
    • Hey Dana, Yeah we didn’t shop much either. The kids were too busy playing. I’d say that one out of five times I fly there is someone who recognizes me and says something. Usually it’s at Denver International (hometown crowd) or a conference city that we are in. My favorite is meeting young adults who went to Dare 2 Share as teenagers and seeing what they are doing now and if/how/how often they are sharing their faith.

      [Reply to this comment]

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  9. On August 5, 2008 @ 5:57 pm Jasmyn said:
    • hey greg i was wondering when the gospel journey maui is coming out? i can’t wait!

      [Reply to this comment]

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  10. On August 22, 2008 @ 3:02 am ChristianSkater said:
    • Hey greg….
      i am going to tell you this. We have a Tornado in our town. This was the first tornado that my town ever gotten. which is very strange. i was playing with my freind when the sirens went off…. and i walked to my home and i was still far away from my house then the tornado was about to come and i was soooo scared but this woman said come in and dont worry about it and i realized that god did proteced me from tornado. it like god send her to save me. it was awesome! i love it! i was telling god to thank you!

      [Reply to this comment]

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