well i haven't written in a while because i've been on sabbatical, traveling in the US visiting wonderful friends, eating good American food, and resting a lot. it's been amazing. i'll be in the States until August 23, when i will go back to Sudan.
a really cool thing happened to me during my time here that exemplifies God's heart to bless. i feel like sometimes, following Jesus is like cheating in life. certainly there are hard times, valleys, but there are times of real blessing, moments of favor that just make you chuckle to yourself because you know it's the Lord...and He's chuckling too. i remember in college, because my friends and i often chose to have prayer meetings for hours or emergency ministry sessions to unsaved friends in the middle of the night, we would often end up barely studying to exams. all too often, someone would exclaim at 4am after we'd just had an amazing time in His Presence, "Oh Lord help me on my test tomorrow!" (i'm not recommending doing this; i'm just saying it's what we did.) we had countless testimonies of God just telling people exactly what to study or literally showing them how to answer a question during the exam. i think He loved our immature hearts.
i had a day of favor a few weeks ago. i went to have a facial and started talking to the woman, a non-Christian, about my work and life in Sudan. when she was finished, i stood to pay her, and she pulls out her waller and says, "No, i'm going to pay you. Thank you for what you do." She handed me $120! (i had thought it was $80 but i noticed later one of the bills was a 50 not a 20). the facial only cost $40.
then i missed a flight due to traffic and had to be rerouted on a much longer route to my destination, risking 2 flights on standby. it wasn't pleasant at all. at the counter, the ticketing agent tells me it will cost $595 to alter my flights. my heart sunk but i had no choice. my dad steps in to pay, i refuse, he insists, i give in. she hands him the receipt, and after walking away, we look and see that it's for $25. after repeated confirmations that it would cost $595, we pay $25.
i feel like we as believers cheat through life sometimes, because we're His kids...as it should be. we get treated special. we defy the laws of nature and escape the laws of cause and effect, the "there is no other way" reality. so often, things that shouldn't happen, do! the thing is, even if i had dropped 600 bucks on airfare and 40 bucks on beautification and had not gotten answers to exam questions, God would still be good and i'd still have peace in knowing He'll make it turn out ok. He doesn't need to do such things to demonstrate His goodness, but He chooses to because He likes it. i believe it makes God feel good, to see our hearts do that little leap they do when some small blessing occurs, to see a smile spread across our faces and our eyes looking up to catch His when we say, "That was so sweet, God. Thanks." we feel the pleasure of being His in those moments, special, different from the crowds...because we are.
