May 20, 2023 - Unexpected Blessing

     I have shared that I would blog only when the Spirit nudges me.   In the last week or so there were very few blogs because there were very few nudges.  I refuse to write simply to write.  I hope these have some value when I do.
       Three days in a row must mean I am in a “nudge stage,” whatever that means.
       I had an unexpected blessing this week.  There are some expected blessings in my life, things that I expect to happen that I have some hope that they will be a blessing when they do.
       Two of the grandkids came to stay with us on Thursday night prior to them going on vacation as a family.  That was an expected blessing.  Teresa is in her element when they come to stay.   There is a very good reason that every grandchild says that they are coming to Gaga’s house.
       I have the expected blessing each week of coming to worship and the joy and lift that seeing so many people bring to my heart.
       Last week I met Mike Courtney in Elizabethtown for lunch.  That was a very anticipated expected blessing.  We had planned it for a couple of weeks.
       Mike is such a blessing in my life.  What I anticipated became reality.  God knew I needed some time with him.  He is a counselor!
       There would be lots of expected blessings in my life.
       But this week I had a very unexpected blessing.  We will call him Abe to protect his identity.  He does have a Biblical name so Abe will work.
       Abe comes out to give me an estimate on a rather extensive outdoor project.  Since moving from Woodford County Teresa and I have had no regrets.  We love the house and we (I more than she!) love living at the lake.
       Well maybe one regret.  I miss the large driveway we had.  Abe came out to see what might be done to expand the driveway while not breaking the bank.
       Abe gets out of his SUV.  He’s a former football player, which might give you some insight about his size.  If you matched us up, Abe would be the anthesis of who I am, in more ways than one.
       His size.  His looks.  Let’s just say that he intentionally has considerably longer hair and more of it than I do, as well as facial hair that I don’t have.
       He looks over the driveway.  I got him as a contact because of some work that he had done for our next-door neighbors so I walked next door to take a look at what he had done.
       For 10 or 15 minutes we talked about the project.
       He stayed for more than an hour.
       For 45 minutes God brought a very unexpected blessing to my life.  What was I expecting from this large man who on the surface didn’t appear to have a great deal in common with me?  I am not sure.  But what I got was a blessing in my life.
       Abe grew up disconnected from the church as did his wife.  Just prior to their marriage God did a major transformation in their lives.  They didn’t come with some of the baggage so they have simply tried to walk with Jesus instead of fitting into some man-created mold that Christians are sometimes expected to submit to.
       Abe has a servant’s heart, which makes him like Jesus.  He has been to Haiti almost a dozen times on mission trips.  He has held those vulnerable children like some of you have when you went to Haiti to serve Tore’s ministry there.   Tears swelled up in Abe’s eyes as he shared about one of those heart-wrenching moments.
       He has a “lifer” as he calls his daughter who will never move out of their house.  She had major issues when she was born and God placed her in a family who would love her and take care of her all her life.
       What we both discovered was that we had far more in common than either of us thought.  Our spirits bore witness with His Spirit that we are children of God together.
       I am not sure about the driveway project.  I am very sure that God placed Abe in my life, if only for an hour.  He was a very unexpected blessing that I needed this week.
       I am finding in this struggle that God is doing that rather consistently.  Sometimes far more obvious than others.