Above and Beyond

Prosperity Gospel 

Early in my walk with God, I became well acquainted with what modern Christians call the “prosperity gospel.” That’s basically an interpretation of the Bible that says if anyone has enough faith, the right relationship with God, and the appropriate Bible teaching, they can expect a life of abundance, wealth, health, and plenty in all God’s blessings all the time. My faith in God today is not a prosperity gospel mindset, I was evicted from that genre of Christianity with a Parkinson’s Disease (PD) diagnosis. So, although Chris and I don’t believe that God is obliged to prosper us in all areas of our life just because we have some type of super faith or exulted knowledge, we do find in scripture encouragement to exercise faith in God for the “above and beyond.” 

Above and Beyond Gospel

What I mean by above and beyond comes from the scriptures. In a letter by the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus, he writes that God is able to do far more abundantly beyond (or above and beyond) all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us (Ephesians 3:20). The context of that verse isn’t about getting more things (money, health, property) but is absolutely about experiencing more of God and his overflowing grace, gaining a greater understanding of his availability in my life, and having an above and beyond embellishment of his love. The majestically important components of that verse consist of three words: think, ask, and power. If I never ask God for anything or if I never think on his holy ability to move in my life, I might never experience his power to answer prayer and show himself real beyond my often-blighted expectations. So, I pray and hope humbly, but also expectantly, realizing that God is big, and you never know; all of a sudden, wonderful things can happen that I've had nothing to do with. These past couple years especially God has leaned into my space every so often with little bump-ups of “above and beyond.” I find myself in those moments whispering internally; “This can only be God.” 

Failure

A few years back, after already being forced into retirement by PD and then enduring eight months of post deep brain stimulation surgery gone bad, I wanted to change the channel, get out of Dodge, and turn the tables on my maladies. Call it whatever, I was ready to experience a new horizon. So, we booked an entire trip to San Diego area over Christmas in December 2023, to relax, to visit relatives and hang out with my sons. All plans were made, but I contracted an infection and was sent into a two-week tailspin, so we called off the entire trip. Failure. But then the “above and beyond” started happening. 

San Diego . . . Again

We took the San Diego failure as a challenge and kept praying and leaning on God for his power to work things out and sure enough we had amazing experiences (see previous blogs) traveling to northern California in 2024 and to Phoenix and Asheville in 2025. With those victories behind me, with Chris now retired, and with the dust settling on our new chapter of life, I was itching to sit in the sun somewhere. It was still winter in North Dakota, the temperatures were in the single digits, our backyard looked like a thick multilayered Rocky Mountain glacier, and it was time to “ask and think” upon the favor of God for a winter get-away like a Caribbean all-inclusive. Chris suggested perhaps something more state-side that would be warm and inclusive . . .  like Arizona. I accepted the compromise realizing that Chris was at least agreeing to a trip somewhere warm and suggested we revisit the failed San Diego trip. The adventure was on. 

Travel: Above and Beyond

When we finally decided to trust God and move forward for our first true long distance retirement venture, our schedule suddenly opened up. February and early March were racked with medical and therapy appointments, retirement planning meetings, recovery from yet another infection, and winter. But in mid-March a gaping hole emerged on the calendar and Chris booked everything pronto before any avalanche of doubt could settle on us. Above and beyond. We weren’t out of the woods yet though. The day before our 5:00 AM departure from Grand Forks International Airport our hub airport in Minneapolis had 500 flight cancelations due to their worst snowstorm in a few years. 

Frozen Plane

When we checked in for our departure flight Chris sheepishly asked the Delta agent if we even had a plane, which usually came from Minneapolis the evening before. His answer was, “Yes, your plane came in two days ago and has been sitting here since; frozen,but it will fly!” It was literally frozen (no water or toilets were in service) but the TSA line was fast, the engines roared and we zoomed to Minneapolis. Above and beyond. Upon arrival in Minneapolis all canceled flights were just starting to come back online including ours to San Diego; only 30 minutes delayed. We were the first to board in the skinny wheelchair thing, took off late, arrived 30 minutes early at 11:00 AM in California, and rejoiced in awe at God’s goodness. Chris said either the pilot had a tailwind or he was a North Dakota Aerospace grad who knew how to fly the thing. 

Arrival: Uh Oh!

Long distance flight travel creates a minefield of potential hazards and challenges for people with late-stage diseases like PD. Arriving at the San Diego Airport before noon wasn’t only a great relief, it was amazing! At least for a few minutes. Chris retrieved our three luggage items and portable walker from the carousel, threw the heavy backpack with all my medical supplies over his shoulder and took me in my wheelchair out of baggage claim to the terminal arrival doors. Then we had one of those “uh oh” moments. 

Help from Strangers

We had a short discourse on a strategy to get our truckload of things to the rental car; Chris vocally, me with my letter/word chart. He would grab a couple of our things and hustle to the rental car center while I sat in my wheelchair in the arrival area to "keep watch" over the rest of our stuff. In a few minutes, he’d zoom in with the car, load us up and off we'd go to the beach. I did agree to the plan. But 45 minutes later . . . I get a tap on the shoulder from two strangers. As it turns out, they had names, Paige and Dominic. They were airport terminal security personnel who were wondering if I’d been left behind, sort of like the Home Alone kid, only the handicapped person rendition of that movie. My speech was not working well but I was able to communicate with them a name, Chris, and his phone number. 

Chris’s Story

Chris’ story of the rental car retrieval starts out with exciting exhilaration, thinking the strategy was great and he’d be back in a flash. But it quickly changes to one of panic as he realized he was stuck on a rental car shuttle that was moving ever so slowly to the rental car station located several miles away from the airport baggage claim. The bus ride seemed like an eternity and the directions back to the correct airline terminal baggage claim area to claim his wife were sketchy. He said he was already fearing the worst when a strange number popped up with the person on the other end hemming and hawing about a wheelchair bound person claiming to be his wife. In the end, these most compassionate and caring souls, Paige and Dominic remained with me the entire time and then helped flag Chris down and load up all our belongings into an undersized compact car. And of course, they wouldn’t take a tip but allowed us to take a photo of them. Above and beyond.

Del Mar

We did make it to our hotel on the beaches of Del Mar just north of San Diego in time for some golden sun and a flaming orange Pacific sunset. The weather in that area during our entire stay was the talk of the town; unseasonably 20℉ warmer than average. Above and beyond. Next blog, I will share more on our incredible five-day stay among surfers, family, dolphins, and Uncle Tom’s West Coast Beach Club. For now, I’ll end with a paraphrase of Ephesians 3:20, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly above and beyond all that we ask or think, according to his power that works within us, to him be the glory.” Let’s step out in faith and possibly experience the above and beyond goodness of God.