Expect the Unexpected
Just as iron sharpens iron, friends sharpen the mins of each other.
Proverbs 27:17
Two of my closest friends, with whom I maneuvered child rearing, get together twice a year to celebrate birthdays. Their birthdays fall in August and mine in January. We have all moved away from our hometown and now live near our daughters. Recently, we wished we had met in Florida and not in SW VA where the winds had us enduring sub zero temperatures. One of the photos above testifies to the reality of the chill. The restaurant in the hotel where we were staying passed out blankets for each guest to wrap up in during dinner! My friends totally surprised me by paying for my dinner that night. That was unexpected.
The cupcake photo is another unexpected blessing. A hotel employee, who started as a bellman years ago, is now the hotel historian. This young man is the bright spot whenever I visit. As we came back into our room one afternoon we found that he had arranged for a delectable buttercream birthday cupcake to be waiting for me.
Joy spreaders make life sweeter!
I read this quote by Proverbs 31 writer Jodi Harris, " Let's expect the unexpected with God. When we step out in faith He runs towards us, revealing Himself in ways we could never imagine."
Stop and ponder those words. When Abraham obediently laid his son Isaac out as a sacrifice he did so in faith believing God would give his son back to him in some way.
Harris also wrote, "Even if we lack faith itself, God wants to provide it as well. We can pray like the father who asked Jesus for healing in Mark 9:24, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (NLT).
We just walked alongside a family at church through a devastating situation, but all involved have enormous faith and are still expecting an unexpected blessing. The young woman in this situation learned early on in her pregnancy that the doctors did not feel the baby's life would be viable outside the womb. She was not willing to terminate the pregnancy, but carried this baby to term. After nine hours of labor she delivered her son, cradled him to her chest and held him for the 14 minutes he survived. Because of her intimate relationship she knew a miracle was possible. Even through this devastation I feel certain she has felt God revealing Himself in ways she could never imagine.
Where does our faith need to increase to where we can expect the unexpected?
I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
The Song
"Counting My Blessings" Seph Schlueter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZjWYgq9QfM
