“Fortunate” was so named because he died at birth – and was resurrected on the operating table. His life is a literal miracle. And his family’s story is just as incredible.
I met him when, yet again, I was dealing with a hassle. A majority of my stories are birthed out of a situation where I am irritated or in unexpected circumstances, and God shows up. He surprises me and pulls me out of my funk focus and onto the amazing people around me (like a grandmother whose home became a youth center or a car salesman who was a Greek scholar). But this time, maybe for the first time, I walked into a situation expecting it!
In this instance, the aggravation was trying to get my iPhone display fixed (yes, #firstworldproblems, I know). It involved almost two hours total driving time and a lot of back-and-forth among staff. But on my way back up north during the driving cycle, I said, “Lord, you’ve got to make this worth my while. Give me somebody, please, to pray with, to be inspired by, or to speak into!”
And He did.
Note: in the interest of full disclosure – I did make that specific prayer. I didn’t fully believe that I could demand that of God – thank God that He works with small faith as well as big faith!
I knew I was in for a treat when the employee helping me told me that his name meant fortunate. Then he said the afore-mentioned story of him stopping breathing and coming back to life. However, the jaw-dropping didn’t stop there.
Fortunate was born in California, but his family immigrated from Vietnam. His father served for the south Vietnamese in the Vietnam War, and at one point it was imperative for him and his family to get out of the country.
But their ship wrecked on a desert place off the coast of Indonesia. In a Lost-style story, the passengers of the ship ended up building their own makeshift village, until they were found by the dad’s commanding officer. He told Fortunate’s family that if they could take the commanding officer’s daughter with them, he would get them all to America.
Which they did.
That daughter now lives in California and is still a part of family gatherings. Fortunate has a full family of successful siblings, scattered from here to New Jersey. What an amazing story – his family’s history could be a movie!
That in itself made my night (plus, my phone was fixed too). But it gets even better – Fortunate wasn’t even supposed to be helping me. He works in a completely different department and was only asked to help out because of the rigmarole I’d been through!
I think God moved him over just because I asked for somebody with a story. How about you, reader – what will God do for you if you ask Him?
“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory…” Eph 3:20-21
Small World, Big God 