Blessed To The 'Max'

My uncle Steve recently took an early retirement so he could pursue God full time. He has no idea what that looks like, yet, but he is secure in trusting that God will show him in His time. In February Steve decided to volunteer for the Women of Faith National Conference in Texas. One of the main draws to volunteering was not only would my aunt be able to attend the national conference, but Max Lucado would be a speaker and Steve just might get a glimpse of him.

Now, I have already mentioned that I am a Max Lucado fan. However, what I failed to mention was the reason I am so drawn to Max. When I found Christ and was baptized, approximately 7 years ago, my uncle Steve and aunt Kathy bought me my first Christian book titled: "Traveling Light" written by Max Lucado. I have been hooked ever since. My uncle, however, is beyond hooked. I believe he has read every book Max has written. To say he is a fan is, absolutely, the understatement of the year!

Well, my uncle, my aunt, and my mom headed to Texas to the WOF National Conference and left me home.....alone.....by myself......even though I have ALWAYS wanted to go. OOPS...sorry got off track. Seriously, I was very excited for them. Especially Steve! I knew he was going to get to see Max!

God has a very intersting way of putting you in your place, doesn't He? Not only did Steve NOT get to see Max Lucado, but he ended up working almost entirely outside the conference. Discouraged as he was after returning home, Steve decided he wanted to serve at the WOF conference in Omaha. So, he got in touch with them, filled out the necessary paperwork, and waited for his assignment.

After running background checks (Steve was Chief of Police. We were pretty confident the background check would pan out:), WOF contacted him shortly before the conference was set to take place and asked him if he would like to work production. Meaning: he would be working at the Qwest Center for the entire week prior to WOF. He would be a "Production Runner" (AKA: Gopher:). He was thrilled at the opportunity and said "Yes!". Although he wasn't planning on it, he was still hoping to catch just a glimpse of Max.

On Monday, March 24th, he left for his first day as Production Runner. He would be putting in 12 hour days. My mom and I were eager to hear about his first day, so we went to my aunt Kathy's and waited for him to get home. When we arrived my aunt said that she had received a phone call from Steve earlier. Apparently he was very anxious to tell us about some news he had received. My aunt proceeded to tell us that one of the people in charge of WOF had asked my uncle to be Max Lucado's security! I am sure I don't have to tell you what he said! :)

My uncle was finally able to meet the man he had admired and respected for so long. Max was very gracious and invited my uncle into his hotel room where they had a very nice conversation. My uncle informed us that Max is, indeed, the wonderful man he appears to be. Max was very interested in getting to know Steve and when Steve informed Max that he was a retired police officer.....Max thanked him for his service. As Steve told us this story....he began to weep.

I believe God blessed Steve because he served with a 'right' attitude and a 'right' heart. Steve truly didn't think he would meet Max or even see him. His whole reason for serving was to do just that.........serve.

Oh, and as a bonus.....he received 4 tickets that were about 5 rows from the stage. Guess who got to sit there???? :)