Evidence of His Control

The house you see in this picture is a local historical landmark in the city of Fort Collins, CO. It is called the Bennett House.

According to History Colorado’s website, a gentleman named Issac W. Bennett built this house in 1907. Mr. Bennett was a man who played a key role in the beginning stages of the sheep industry in Larimer County, the county that includes the city of Fort Collins. History Colorado describes this home as having “distinctive elements characteristic of the Edwardian style, including a multi-gabled roof, asymmetrical massing, simple exterior surfaces, and classical details.” The website also mentions how it is “one of the few examples of two-story wood-frame Edwardian-style residential architecture in Fort Collins.”

This house, and the street it is located on, have a very special connection to me. The Bennett House is located on the same street where I live and have lived for over a decade now.

I have walked past the Bennett House many times: to walk to church, to walk to grocery stores, the MAX bus, and restaurants, among other places. Yet, it was not until last year that I stopped in front of it and felt goosebumps.

My parents moved to Jonesborough, TN almost two years ago and since then, I have lived by myself in CO. It just so happens that their address in TN is on Bennett Road, a road that shares the name of the Bennett House, a place that I have walked by countless times. Of all the times that I have walked by the Bennett House, it was not until that moment a year ago that I had to pause and be in awe of God. I believed God was specifically showing me something, a place of importance in my life story, knowing how much I loved such places, details, and signs found in movies and books.

To further explain all of this, I will show you pictures of the specific places He used and continues to use to show me His hand in my life, starting with my parents’ home in TN, the picture you see below, and the Bennett House picture I just showed you in CO. Whatever the future holds, if I ever move to TN for whatever reason to be closer to family, or maybe to fulfill the dream of living in Nashville as a lyricist, the previous picture of the Bennett House near me has meaning. It very well could be a sign from God pointing to my future where another “Bennett House” is standing. Thus the picture before you is perhaps an example of foreshadowing in my life.

Wait, there is even more to this story.

I have lived in the city of Fort Collins independently for over a decade now. For over four years, from October 2015 to March 2020, I worked at Cinemark Movie Bistro and XD. Another Google Maps picture that features its location is below you now. This picture represents a great deal of my past, my present, and my love of going to the movies.

I walked on E Monroe Dr to get to work at Cinemark and to see many movies there, far too many to count. Why is it that the picture featured above is so important to me and to my life story?

Here is a picture of what lies just west of Cinemark Movie Bistro and XD.

College Avenue goes in a direct path from North to South in the City of Fort Collins. Right before you drive to get to the Cinemark movie theater, College Avenue gives you the option of going one of two ways: W Monroe Dr and E Monroe Dr.

Why does that detail hold such meaning for me?

I was born in Monroe, LA, which is effectively E Monroe. For about a third of my life, I lived in West Monroe, LA, which is undoubtedly W Monroe. While these two cities are not separated by a street or avenue, they are by a river: the Ouachita River.

Before the Cinemark was even built before I even moved to Colorado from Louisiana or went to college in Fort Collins, E Monroe Dr, and W Monroe Dr were already there.

The previous picture of the two routes found near the Cinemark Movie Bistro and XD represents an area that is a real-world reminder that always reminds me I was born and where my very life story and love of stories began.

Also, to add even more supporting evidence to all of this, there just so happens to be a home located at another 189 Bennett Rd in Fort Collins, CO that matches where my parents live in TN: same road, different state. How many people can say something like that?

Here is a picture to prove it.

I believe God has placed these specific places and street names in this city, a place I have called home for over a decade, to show that He is in control of everything, including my life, and that He cares about my past, my present, and my future. Long before I was even born, He lovingly included them, knowing one day I would need to see them.

All of this leads me back to the Bennett House in Fort Collins, which is why I will show you one final picture of this place.

This picture shows a locked gate in front of the Bennett House. I have no idea who has the keys and/or who can open it. All I know is that it is not me.

We can worry and fret about the future. We can learn about all the news, study all the conspiracy theories, and know about everybody who went to “the Island.” Yet, no amount of effort on our part will ever be able to open any door, walk through any gate, obtain any knowledge, or solve any issue by ourselves. There are things that we are not meant to ever have, to ever know, or to ever experience simply because we are human and we are not God. Only He knows all. Only He can handle it all. Only He can open doors. Only He can close them. Not Google or anyone of us will ever even come close.

As I write to you this morning, I am still mindful of what happened just three days ago. Our nation and the world were in shock as a former president of the United States, President Donald J. Trump, was nearly assassinated but was miraculously spared, due to divine intervention from the Lord Almighty Himself.

So many have prayed and have worried about so much over the last three days. What does the future hold? Is America through? Will good times, joy, prosperity, and hope ever return?

I have walked by the Bennett House hundreds of times over the past year and felt led to write about it and share it with you all many times. There have been countless moments that I have wanted to write this, from different angles and for different reasons, but I have put it off again and again.

The reason why I believe God wanted me to share about how He has given me real-world places, details, and literal signs in my life finally today as evidence of His goodness and His faithfulness is to remind you that He is in control of your life as well.

The fact that we all woke up this Tuesday morning, and that last night former President Trump walked out to a packed stadium in Milwaukee, WI, with only a bandage on his right ear, still living among us, should cause us to thank the Lord. This miracle should drive us to give Him all of the praise He deserves. He alone deserves the glory. By His power alone, He stopped a violent eruption of reckless and sinister evil in our country that would have made the world today a very different place, had the Devil had his victory. If He can do that for a former president, He can do that and so much more for all of us.

So, “fight the good fight,” and continue to look around for countless examples of the goodness of God. Whether it is just down the street, in a favorite coffee shop, in your church, or elsewhere, there are places wherever we live that will forever remind us of how He provided for us, placed that made us who we are, and places that could even lead to the future, no matter where that could be.

Every detail, every setting, every character, in our lives, in the world, and throughout all of time are brought together by the Lord, who is the greatest storyteller of all time.

Until Next Time,

Jacob