Caught by Surprise

     Today began as a 'not-so-interesting' day.  In fact, it seemed quite boring and frustrating.  I am preparing to begin college classes here in the next few weeks, and am working on getting classes, schedules, textbooks, bus routes, and everything else figured out.  At the beginning of this summer, I enrolled in three classes only to discover that I have already gone through the majority of the training that one class has to offer.  Naturally, I did not want to spend extra money going through a course that I knew would be mostly review.  So I dropped that class, and tried to enroll in a Japanese language class.  To make a long story short, I spent about three hours trying to figure out how to drop and add classes, how to fit this new class into my schedule, running into technical difficulties, and a whole lot more.

     Later on in the evening, things were still not going their greatest.  On Monday nights, I cook dinner at our house.  However, due to various interruptions, I began preperations late today, and finally ended up around 8:00 pm with burnt fingers and burnt bread.  Frustrated, I said to my brother, "Timothy, you might as well call everyone for dinner - if you can even call this mess 'dinner'."

      Then as my precious twelve-year-old brother turned to go call everyone, he said with a grin "If this is not dinner, it's a feast!"  At that moment, the atmosphere changed, and I could not help smiling, despite my crossness.  His comment had touched my heart, encouraged me, and filled me with joy as nothing else could have at that time.  It was unexpected.  It was full of love.  And because of that, it was special.

     God used my brother to pull my attention back to Him.  I was so focused on not being able to do things right, that I allowed myself to stop focusing on God, and what I could do in that situation to praise Him.  This small occurence brought to my mind 1 Thessalonians 5:18.  "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  Sure, it's frustrating to burn the bread and have a late dinner.  But in retrospect, I thank God that we have bread to burn (it didn't turn out too badly after all), and that we can all sit down together as a family to eat, although the hour was late.  I thank God for my family, their appreciativeness and kind comments regarding dinner, the fellowship that we shared around the dining room table, and most of all the love for one another that God has given us.  Of course, we are not a perfect family, always treating one another with love and respect.  But each one knows that he or she loves and is loved by all members in our family.  And that is perhaps the thing for which I thank God the most.

     Contrary to what I had thought earlier, today has turned out to be an interesting day.  I am no longer bored, but looking forward to what God is going to teach me in the future because I am learning that He can take the mundane experiences of everyday life, and turn them into life lessons that will stay with me forever.  The key is to keep your eyes and heart ready and open to what God will do next.  And even then, He might take you by surprise!