We all know that not all surprises are pleasant; indeed, some are unpleasant and others can be downright tragic. In contrast to those, I want to share some of the lovely surprises I鈥檝e experienced this past week.
This succession of lovely things began first thing Monday morning. As part of my daily walk, I chug up the hill from our place to a bus stop near a local condo building. Catching the same bus is a fine young man from Korea, a student at one of our training schools. We鈥檝e become 鈥渂us buddies鈥� and I truly enjoy his company. Monday morning before the bus arrived, he presented me with a $20 gift certificate to my favourite coffee shop. I was both surprised and delighted.
The next day, as I finished shopping at one of our local grocery stores, one of the attractions of the day was the opportunity to present one鈥檚 cash register receipt before 鈥渟pinning the wheel鈥� in the hopes of winning something. I almost passed up the opportunity but figured, 鈥淗ey, even winning an extra 500 points towards my next shopping trip helps.鈥� Another surprise! I won one of the few remaining gift-card rewards still up for grabs.
As if that wasn鈥檛 enough, this morning I received a lovely email from the daughter of a former friend who informed me her mom had passed away. The email also thanked me for having been a blessing and encouragement to her mom. I had no idea my friendship meant so much to her.
How have you been blessed this week? How can you bless someone else? Here鈥檚 a suggestion from Solomon, the writer of Proverbs:
鈥淚f you see your enemy hungry, go buy him lunch: if he鈥檚 thirsty, bring him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness, and God will look after you.鈥�
听
