The Birthday Gift
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
-Proverbs 16:9
We were late. “Spring forward” had proven, yet again, to be a cruel description for daylight savings. It may well animate what happens to clocks, but it has nothing to do with what happens to our bodies. Daylight savings had connived with these premature morning hours to throw down a gauntlet which my whole family was forced to navigate. While shaking off our loss of sleep we had to, simultaneously, get ready for the day. My follicle challenge allowed me to get to the car more quickly. In the driver’s seat, I prepared to back out so they could get into the car more easily and we could rush to our first appointment for the day.
The garage door opened at my command. I gained confidence in the driving duties that lay before me. I put the car into reverse and looked into my rearview mirror. Then I saw it. There was a car blocking my exit. “What on earth are they doing?” I said to myself. Slowly, ever so slowly, they began to back out of the way. “Spring forward” had nothing to do with their driving. But it did describe my surging emotions. Quickly, ever so quickly, my frustrations grew. I needed to get my family to church and the car was blocking me!
Suddenly, my brother-in-law appeared from the side of the house, with a spring in his step. With a friendly wave of his hand he turned my frustration into confusion. He told me, as he walked toward the offending car, that he had just left my birthday gift by the front door of the house. I quickly thanked him and as he got into that car I could see that it was being driven by my sister-in-law. I was embarrassed. And as they drove away I was thankful that my annoyance had remained caged inside my brain.
A few minutes later my wife and son got into our car and we began our drive. On the way, an idea managed to break into my mind, still closed as it was to anything outside of my self-prescribed responsibility of getting my family to church on time. Perhaps, this thought dared to suggest, fulfilling my goals and responsibilities are not the only things that matter. Maybe, a good and faithful life includes unexpected moments. Moments in which God, like my brother and sister-in-law, wishes to surprise us with serendipitous gifts that have the power to turn our frustration into confusion and, if we allow them to do so, into joy.
We arrived at church with plenty of time to spare. That was good news for me because I needed a worship service to open my heart and mind to the generous gifts of God that surround us…even during daylight savings.
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Cheers to making more good happen, together.
Warmly,
Randy