Surprised by the Divine

It's been an exhausting week. Well, exhilerating, but exhausting. We're in the midst of our annual Youth Drama Camp, and I'm putting in a lot of time toward the production in additon to full-time hours at church. And there are other special projects that are adding to my daily "to do" lists -- preparing for our Discover Hope class this week, getting some things together for Beth's graduation party next week, wanting to accomplish some projects before heading off to Indiana and then some vacation time with the family at the beginning of August. So I'm having a blast, but I'm also tuckered out.

So it's been an awesome joy to have God surprise me in unexpected ways throughout the week. I've had a chance to watch him "show off" in many of the projects I'm working on; he just has this incredible way of accomplishing things far beyond our mortal ability.

A phone call from a very precious friend sent me soaring earlier this week; God reminded me how incredibly blessed I am with the people in my life. And just when I was feeling all blessed, I reconnected with a couple of other friends that I haven't talked to in a while... kind of like "icing on the cake."

This morning, I led our newcomer's class at Hope, which is always a kick. I love connecting with new people and hearing about their journeys! And my heart was totally stoked as a few of them shared how welcome and blessed they've felt at Hope. When one person talked about how obvious the Spirit's presence is in our midst, I felt this big ethereal smile spread across my soul, as if God was beaming his smile in me and reminding me of how awesome it is to trust him and rest in him.

A little later, a couple of us chatted about a really radical idea for a church facility -- and I mean really radical! It would be the kind of place where Jesus would love to hang out and where I imagine the community would be drawn to hang out as well. And, well, you know what happens when people hang out where Jesus is... :) Whether or not something like that ever becomes reality, it was fun just to imagine for a while.

And that's really just the start. Over and over again throughout this past week, I've turned around and been surprised by little blessings from the Divine -- including the simple joy of drifting off for a really long, deep nap this afternoon. It's amazing how something as simple as sleep can be such a satisfying blessing.