God’s Providence: Finding Home

“Lord, but I gave you the glory….” I prayed angrily. Night after night lying there awake I would wrestle over my circumstances and feelings asking God, “I just want to understand.” Overcome with dread, I was tormented by my new reality, all while coming to the realization I was never truly in control. 

From a very young age my desire to be a fighter pilot was intense, as was everything else about me. As the youngest of three boys in a family of achievers, I was often outshined in almost all feats and facets. I so badly desired to have my own niche or my own accomplishment that I could be proud of. While my brothers attempted to recreate my father’s journey to professional baseball, I chose another route. I wanted to be an officer in the Air Force and fly fighter jets. This road would drive me to achieve excellent grades in high-school, be in student leadership, engage in extracurricular activities, an—of course—play baseball. I did everything I possibly could to get to where I wanted to go. 

I would eventually attend California State university Fresno where I would compete with other candidates nationally for a chance to be a pilot, as well as meet my wife. After physical, mental, and medical tests, I ultimately earned my slot to undergraduate pilot training at Vance Air Force base in Oklahoma. I was ecstatic, the Lord seemed to be opening every door to “MY” dream. I felt unstoppable. 

Jordan and Madison Williams

My wife and I got married three weeks prior to me starting my training syllabus as a pilot. I dragged her to Enid, Oklahoma, where she would see me endure weeks and months of the world’s best aviator training. She watched me battle airsickness, fly when it was 105 degrees, and study until I’d be asleep in my chair. 

At the end of the first phase of training, your performance dictates your future. While exceeding the standards, luck and timing would have it that it was not my destiny to fly fighters. I got sent to the heavy-aircraft track with a broken heart and damaged pride. But I pressed on through the next phase of training, hopeful for what different opportunities lay ahead.

At the end of the next four months of training, I ranked a list of my preferences to include aircraft type and location. December 15, 2023, I received my 12th choice—the RC-135 at Offutt AFB in Omaha, Nebraska. The couple from California were being sent 400 miles north to somewhere slightly less flat and colder than Oklahoma… obviously, we were thrilled.

These repeated defeats along with a variety of other challenges had me questioning God’s plan for my life. Regardless I committed to this, so we packed up and moved to Nebraska.

Our first Saturday in Omaha would turn out to be a very significant one for us, as the prior owners of our new rental would swing by looking for a package they accidentally shipped to their old address. I gave them their package and in the few minutes of conversation it was evident that they were more than just “Nebraska nice,” they had hearts for Christ. They were very sure we should visit “Providence” during Madison and I’s search for a church.

“...never before in my 25 years of church going did I ever have five different people approach me, noticing my wife and I were new, wanting to get to know us and get us connected. ”

One visit is all it took for Madison and I to know Providence would be our home. No it was not the building, the location, or the demographic. It was the people, God’s people who undeniably loved and pursued the Lord. I know this because never before in my 25 years of church going did I ever have five different people approach me, noticing my wife and I were new, wanting to get to know us and get us connected. However one rather tall and adamant man seemed to be an expert at this. He introduced himself and through a little small talk ushered us over to someone we had to meet next. There amongst a crowd of cheerful people stood a warm smile and joyful heart. She thanked the man as if he was making his usual Sunday morning deliveries. After a bit of small talk the woman asked us to visit their city group on Thursday nights, a group of young adults that got together, ate dinner and would dive into the Word. Madison and I attended that next Thursday. Just mere moments after entering, a guy approached us to engage with us and make us feel welcomed. He saw strangers and his first reaction was to care. After all of this Madison and I couldn’t help but smile and think, “We’re home.” 

Jordan and Madison’s City Group

By God’s grace I now understand that by his PROVIDENCE He led us to one of the greatest blessings my wife and I have ever received: the people of Providence Church. People who are ready and waiting to be a part of God’s plan to love and care for his people. Praise God for what he’s done, is doing, and what he will continue to do. 

Isaiah 42:16, “And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.”

By Jordan Williams, April 29, 2025