When Life Takes An Unexpected Change - Royce and Laurie Snyman

God’s care does not always look like an easy road. Carlo’s life began in the poverty, violence, hunger, and spiritual confusion of Haiti, where his mother Genevieve held onto God’s promises even when danger was all around. Psalm 121 became a lifeline: “The Lord will keep you from all harm and watch over your life.” God preserved Carlo from a gunman, healed his injured eye, and stopped a car just inches from his head. Yet God’s protection did not mean Carlo never suffered.

Carlo’s lost arm, the cruelty of adults, the violence he experienced at school, his mother’s disappearance, and the doors that slammed shut all raised the hard question: Where was God? God was not absent in Carlo’s pain. God was crying with him when he was abused. God was working through the long, hard places, even when the plan made no sense. The promise of Jeremiah 29 was not a guarantee that every opportunity would turn out the way Carlo hoped. God’s plan was bigger than the scholarship Carlo lost and bigger than the future he thought he needed.

God used Carlo’s one arm, his fierce determination, and an old trumpet to open doors nobody expected. Carlo learned to play by ear, practiced while everybody else ate or played, and became a gifted musician. God closed the Louisiana scholarship, but that closed door placed Carlo in Michigan only days before Haiti’s devastating earthquake. What felt like disappointment turned out to be protection.

God then supplied people at exactly the right times: a church visitor, a university professor, Wynton Marsalis, friends, churches, and eventually a family that became Carlo’s family. Carlo’s life also showed that faithfulness costs something. His refusal to compromise Sabbath convictions brought opposition, but God continued to make a way.

God’s providence did not stop with Carlo’s education, music, marriage, or career. God changed Laurie and Royce too. What began as reluctant help became a father-and-mother kind of love. God exposed the temptation to keep hurting people at arm’s length while calling others to care for the fatherless, the overlooked, and the person who needs a place at the table. God’s plans often arrive through interruptions, inconvenient needs, and relationships that seem too complicated. God asks His people to say yes before they can see all that He intends to do.

##

Key Takeaways

• 1. God’s protection is not painless. God preserved Carlo through danger, but God did not remove every wound from his life. Psalm 121 became true not because Carlo escaped every hardship, but because God watched over his coming and going through all of it. God’s presence in suffering is sometimes seen later, after a person has walked through the dark place. [53:05]
• 2. Closed doors can be God’s rescue. The lost scholarship felt like the destruction of Carlo’s future. God used that disappointment to move Carlo out of Haiti just before the earthquake that destroyed the school where he would have been. God’s plan often becomes visible only after the door has already closed. [75:18]
• 3. Faithfulness may cost real opportunities. Carlo’s Sabbath convictions cost him musical opportunities and brought pressure from people who valued career advancement above obedience. God did not ask Carlo to trade conviction for success. God honored a life that trusted Him with both the closed doors and the open ones. [84:20]
• 4. Love the overlooked without holding back. Carlo did not only need money, clothes, or transportation. Carlo needed to belong, to be received as a son rather than merely helped as a project. God challenged Laurie and Royce to see how exclusion can hide behind busyness, caution, and reluctance. [92:44]
• 5. God grows families through surrendered hearts. God brought Carlo into a family that believed it was already complete. God gave them the joy of spiritual parenting, shared faith, marriage, and grandchildren. God’s unexpected invitations can become some of the greatest gifts a household ever receives.
  
  ## [100:49]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [40:08] - God Leads in Unexpected Circumstances
• [41:48] - Genevieve’s Hard Life in Haiti
• [45:15] - Psalm 121 Becomes Carlo’s Promise
• [46:55] - Carlo Escapes the Gunman
• [52:20] - Injury, Gangrene, and the Loss of an Arm
• [58:41] - Carlo Finds Faith and Education
• [64:13] - The One-Armed Trumpet Player
• [69:52] - A Closed Scholarship and God’s Greater Plan
• [73:10] - Escape from Haiti Before the Earthquake
• [76:17] - Michigan State and Wynton Marsalis
• [81:31] - Carlo Becomes Part of the Family
• [92:44] - From Mother Friend to Mother
• [95:21] - A Father’s Call to Mentor
• [100:49] - Saying Yes to God’s Unexpected Plan

1. In Psalm 121:7–8, what areas of life are included in God’s watchful care?
2. What dangers and hardships did Carlo face that made the promise of Psalm 121 especially meaningful to him? [47:25]
3. What happened to Carlo’s Louisiana scholarship, and what later event helped explain why being in Michigan mattered? [01:10:52]
4. What did Carlo need from Laurie and Royce beyond practical help such as transportation, clothing, or financial support? [01:32:44]

1. Psalm 121 promises that the Lord watches over His people, yet Carlo experienced injury, abuse, grief, and loss. How can God’s protection be understood without pretending that believers will never suffer? [01:02:19]
2. Jeremiah 29:11 speaks of God’s plans, hope, and a future. Why is it important not to treat this promise as a guarantee that every desired opportunity will work out exactly as hoped?
3. Carlo’s scholarship was taken away because he would not compromise his Sabbath convictions. What does his experience show about the difference between trusting God’s plan and using faith to avoid costly obedience? [01:30:20]
4. Isaiah 1:17 calls God’s people to care for the fatherless and bring justice. Why might it be easier to offer occasional help than to welcome an overlooked person into genuine belonging within a family or church? [01:33:02]

1. Is there a disappointment, closed door, or delayed hope that still feels hard to understand? What would it look like to bring that specific situation honestly to God rather than forcing an explanation for it? [01:11:19]
2. Carlo held to his Sabbath convictions even when influential people suggested that obedience would hurt his future. Where might career pressure, financial pressure, or the desire to be accepted tempt someone to compromise a conviction?
3. Carlo practiced trumpet when others were eating or playing, using what was available to him rather than waiting for ideal conditions. What ability, responsibility, or opportunity has God placed in your hands that you may need to develop with greater faithfulness? [01:06:02]
4. Think about the people God has already placed near you—at church, work, school, or in your neighborhood. Is there someone who may need more than a quick act of kindness and may need friendship, inclusion, or a place at the table? [01:42:21]
5. Laurie recognized that caution, busyness, and reluctance had kept Carlo at a distance. What are some respectful ways to notice when busyness or comfort is becoming an excuse not to love someone deeply? [01:29:30]
6. God changed a household that thought its family was already complete. How could your home, small group, or church make room for spiritual family—for someone who is lonely, fatherless, new to faith, or far from home? #!!1:40:49!!