Last night I got a surprise phone call invitation to my friend Leif's Bible study group. What a nice surprise to start some new friendships all centered in studying the Word. Thanks God!
Later I had lunch with a new fellow pastor friend, Pastor Phil Tague from the Ransom Church. Great conversation with great prayer time.
Later I dropped in on Don Reiffenberger for a surprise visit. It was great to catch up.
Thanks God for all the wonderdful surprise of great relationship/friendships.
3 comments:
God was busy in the “Surprise” department today…I got three surprises today!
Surprise #1:
My husband is always amazed at how unobservant I can be. We’ll be driving along and I’ll say, “Wow! When did they put up THAT building?” and he’ll say, “It’s been there for a year and you drive this street every day to work. How could you NOT have noticed it?!” Good thing I’m not a police officer or private investigator, huh?
That’s why I was surprised this morning when I noticed the license plate of the vehicle in front of me. It said:
BAMAPHD
It took me a couple of minutes to figure out that it stood for Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy. Someone in that vehicle was awfully proud of all of their educational success. That got me thinking about how I judge “success”. It can be pretty tempting to feel pride in our own accomplishment and think that they are a result of our own efforts. But what an offense that is to God! He is, after all, the one who gives me absolutely everything I have, so I owe it all to him.
I think this surprise was really a “God-incidence” because any other day of my life, I would have never even noticed that license plate in front of me. Today, I not only took notice, but it gave me an opportunity to pray for God to keep me from being proud of anything that I do and to make sure that He gets all the credit.
Surprise #2:
I got an email from a friend just thanking me for the work I do at Rejoice! Totally out of the blue. Isn’t that the neatest kind of surprise? A thank you that you don’t expect. A word of encouragement at the moment you need it the most. A prayer from someone who just had “a feeling” you might need one. Take time today and tell someone “thank you”, or give them encouragement, or pray for them. Call someone to tell them you love them. You have no idea how much it will brighten their day.
Surprise #3:
I saved the best surprise for last. If anyone has ever raised kids, you know that there is a long period (translation: teenage years) when you, as a parent, don’t know a thing. But believe it or not, at some point that turns around and your kids actually like you again as they grow up. Today was one of those days.
Heidi, who lives in NJ, had a co-worker whose mother died, and she was put in charge of arranging for flowers and buying a card. She had walked to the drug store to buy a sympathy card for this man’s mother, and she got so choked up reading the cards that she called me just to say, “I love you, Mom.” Surprise…God has blessed me far beyond what I deserve. How do you say “thank you” for that?
Thanks for a day FULL of surprises, God...and the day isn't even over yet!
Pastor Tim,
Last week Michael and I attended church and prayed “surprise me God” for the first time. I got my first surprise on Sunday night!
Sunday evening I drove to Dell Rapids to pick my dog from my dog sitter, who was a best friend to my mother. As I was leaving his house, he gave me a copy of a letter my mom wrote to friends/family a month after she was diagnosed with cancer. She wrote the letter in September 2008 and passed away on December 1 2010.
As I read the letter for the first time, the last paragraph really stuck out. Here is what mom was telling me!!
“ Well, now it’s time to join Jesus! Be happy for me! Remember me in all of our fun times together. If you ever get in trouble, maybe God will let me help you steer your bike, or maybe just be an angel on your back! Who could be SAD about that? Please try to picture me having so much fun….. laughing…. Laughing…. Laughing….. in heaven!!! that’s where I will be!! I CAN”T WAIT!”
What an amazing surprise from God! He was reminding me that my mother is always with me and he was reminding me of the wonderful time my mom is having in heaven!
I had never actually read the letter because it was just too hard. I am so happy I had the opportunity to read this letter for the first time!
~ Katie Davis ~
BAMAPHD could also be a doctor whose roots and/or their favorite sports team is from Alabama...nickname "Bama" i.e., short of Ala-bama...
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