Today's main surprise happened through God's word. A troubling Bible text for me and for many scholars has always been, Luke 13:1-9. http://bit.ly/6hOehX In it Jesus and his followers discuss why evil happens.
Even more difficult is Jesus telling a confusing parable of cutting down an unfruitful, 3 years unproductive fruit tree in response to their conversation on evil. Sometime our life and death questions provoke more questions with few answers.
You see I have been wondering what to say about Haiti. Today I heard Mike Housholder, pastor of Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines teach on this text. I never would have guessed this troubling text would ever be an aswer to any of my questions.
I realised this is a text for Rejoice! This is a text for all hurting over Haiti. Come Sunday to hear more....
The second surprise was nothing earth-shaking (maybe that is a bad choice of words...forgive me) My 2nd surprise was just a simple lunch date with my son. We ate at a new favorite restaurant of his. Nothing profound happened, but sometimes the best moments are not Hollywood-esque, but maybe some of our best moments are when two loved ones get together and share time together and enjoy each other's company. Thank you God for this simple surprise.
Well my friends, hug someone you love today...may you be surprised at how profound this simple act can be...Give 'em Heaven!
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Like Tim, I also had two surprises today.
First, last Sunday, this crazy pastor I know got so passionate about sowing seeds (as opposed to "planting" them) that he actually threw his microphone at the congregation. Guess the message got through.
Today I noticed a Facebook message posted by a girl I knew in high school. We were never close in those days. She belonged to one "group" and, well, I didn't really belong to any "group" in particular. Anyway, her FB message surprised me as it said something about never underestimating the strength of the human spirit, and then she added a request that we pray for the people of Haiti.
Now this is a person that I would have never expected to utter the word "pray." So...I took a chance, and I sowed. I responded to her message with this Psalm:
12 He will rescue the poor when they cry to him; he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them.
13 He feels pity for the weak and the needy, and he will rescue them. Psalm 72:12-13
I thought that I would probably never hear back from her, but SURPRISE! Within minutes she had responded with a message of gratitude for sending the Psalm. God, you truly do surprise me.
My second surprise was quite similar to Tim's. My husband surprised me by calling me out of the blue to ask me out to lunch. I was having a somewhat stressful day. Busy at work, busy in prayer. The lunch date could not have come at a better time and it was just what the Doctor (the Master Physcian, Jesus) ordered.
Thanks, God.
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