Blessings

Well, I’m off for a few days thanks to doctor’s orders. I apparently have some sort of virus that has given me, among other delightful symptoms, a rash that covers my whole body. So now that I have some time on my hands I thought I’d catch up on my blogging. I usually think about what I want to write over a few days, and during that time things happen that in the end make the finished product different than what I envisioned it to be. So, here’s my latest finished product…

Last week we got to visit with Colin, Galya and their son Joshua who are all here in Canada for a visit. If you remember they are the good friends we visited in the UK last year. We had them over for supper on Monday and were so excited to show them our new home, which they had only seen on the video we shot for them last year. Considering that they had a hand in helping us find a home in the first place (click here to read the story) their visit was worth being excited over. We even popped the cork on a bottle of “Mead” (beer brewed from honey – it’s an old Viking drink) we had been saving for a special occasion, and this occasion seemed to be as special as any other. It was so good to see our friends in our home, and to be able to share our time together again.

The sharing continued on Thursday when we went over to David & Julie’s for a movie night. David & Julie are also good friends of ours, and years ago the six of us would do movie nights, loaded up with Coke & Hint of Lime chips, and stay up til 1 AM talking and praying for each other. Over time others (like Nathan & Dawn) were added to the group, and it became for me (and hopefully others) a very special time in my life. So it seemed fitting that we had movie night once again. We talked, laughed and teased each other (“Shh!! Quiet!! Colin can’t hear the movie!!!) like we used to when we were all together. It was so good to get the old gang together again, and we’ll have a repeat gathering (hopefully) when Nathan & Dawn are here in May/June.

Of course I’d be negligent if I didn’t mention our wedding anniversary. Once again Angel & I made a pilgrimage to Jasper; this time, courtesy of some travel points we had accumulated we could stay for 2 nights and we only paid $68 for our room. The weather was cold and there was lots of snow on the ground, plus we were both fighting a bug (mine has obviously gotten worse if I’m sporting a cool body rash!). Aside from those detractors we enjoyed our stay there – at least it was better there than in many other parts of Alberta, which got hit with several days’ worth of snow. And it’s still coming down from the sky…

…which brings me to today. When I got home from the doctor I decided to call an old friend of mine I hadn’t spoken to in a while. He had been on my mind for some time and I thought since I had the time I’d pick up the phone. Well, it turns out that my friend had been going through a rough patch lately; so rough in fact he was thinking about giving up his faith in Jesus altogether. He told me the timing of my call was uncanny, as he had been asking God why he had suffered so much in life (believe me if you knew my friend you’d understand why he’d ask that), wrestled with some very unhealthy thoughts and had asked God if these thoughts were from Him or not.

It was a “divine appointment” where I could speak into my friend’s life (which he really found helpful) and share from my own experience what God had shown me. To my surprise I began to cry as I shared with him what I had learned; for some reason, in spite of being well acquainted with his struggles, his plight had today touched me deeply. I said what he was thinking was not of God and that I too have asked why God allowed me to suffer, albeit not nearly to the same degree as my friend had. I had no answer to the question of “Why?” but I did find the answer to an even bigger question we ask when we suffer: Is God good? I found that the answer was yes because in the pain I experienced grace, and it was through the relationships I had with others – people like my movie night friends. I experienced in them what God says in his Word, “The Lord is for me among those who help me” – Psalm 118:7 (NASB)

The events of the past week have been a reminder of how rich God’s blessings are. Life, like my blog posts, never turn out the way I expected them. They can be filled with pain and uncomfortable circumstances, but God is there even when we don’t recognize Him. I used to wish sometimes that my life had unfolded differently than it has; that the choices I made or were made for me were not what they had been. But even though life is harder than I thought it would be, I find at times that it’s even better than what I imagined. And all because of the blessings that God has given to me.