sunday, september 23, 2012 - Lake Union Conference

Divine
Appointments
If it’s possible that poor dental hygiene can be divinely appointed, I firmly believe such was the case with my father.
Were it not for his woeful brushing habits — and forget about flossing, who knows where one young couple
and their children (and now grandchildren) might have ended up. No, Harry and Brenda Patterson’s crossing
paths with dentist Kenneth Wynn and his wife, Ruth, was anything but accidental, and my family’s life has been eternally
changed as a result of their workplace witnessing.
In the early 1970s, my parents were a young married
couple with three small children and no particular religious
bent. Though both were raised Baptist, their courtship,
marriage and early parenting years lacked any meaningful,
spiritual direction. They were college-educated, kind
people living the American dream on a generous portion
by LUcas patterson
of country acreage and in a new house built to their design.
But like so many others trapped in middle-class prosperity,
they didn’t recognize the abundance of blessings being left
on the table.
And when people don’t know they need something, it’s
hard to convince them otherwise, isn’t it? At least, that
14 | August 2012 • Lake Union HeraLd The Lake Union Herald is available online.