Simple Surprises

I LOVE surprises.
I LOVE it when God surprises me. Actually, I shouldn't be surprised that God surprises me. After all, King David wrote song after song about God's wonderment during his seasons of despair and seasons of joy.

"God is magnificent; He can never be praised enough. There are no boundaries to His greatness. Generation after generation stand in awe of your work; each one tells stories of your mighty acts. Your beauty and splendor have everyone talking; I compose songs on your wonders. Your marvelous doings are headline news; I could write a book full of the details of your greatness.God always does what He says, and is gracious in everything He does. God gives a hand to those down on their luck, gives a fresh start to those ready to quit.God's there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it. He does what's best for those who fear him-hears them call out, and saves them. God sticks by all who love Him, but it's all over for those who don't. My mouth is filled with God's praise. Let everything living bless Him, bless His holy name from now to eternity!" (Psalm 145 The Message. Thanks goes out to a new visitor to my blog, Courtney, who sent me this Psalm as an encouragement for me. Thanks Courtney!)

I LOVE it when God surprises me when I'm not looking! Simple surprises with compelling lessons leaving me changed in a significant way.

Today, I was once again flabbergasted by a question that flowed out of the braces-filled mouth of another 13 year old student of mine. Once again, I was in the school library with the same group of grade 8 students working on a math project.
Out of the blue, K. stared at me and inquired in a consoling tone,

" Miss W., can I ask you something? I don't mean to sound mean. Why aren't you married?"
Sighing, I said, " I don't know."
K. continued, " I don' t understand because you are nice and beautiful!"

Once again, isn't that just the sweetest thing ever! I love my job! Perfect timing I might add. My lady friends out there will understand my "time of the month" musings, " I feel sooo fat and feel sooo ugly. My boobs are sagging. What is gravity doing to me?!" (and the list could go on and on!) Just this morning I flippantly prayed- -well it was not really a prayer, it was just me talking to myself on my way to work-- that I just want a male companion to tell me I'm beautiful!!! I love that God sent this 13 year old boy to cheer me up!! What an encouragement today.
Simple surprises!

I also want to thank you my friends for your words of encouragement this week regarding my last post. Your kindness, love and empathy mean more to me than I can ever express. Thank you for letting me be me and expressing the deepest part of who I am. Thank you for not judging me. Thank you! I am doing much better. I am trying to embrace my hormonal changes!! hehehehe!
May I leave you with another Celtic prayer but this one is a Celtic evening prayer:

"I lay me down in the love of my Father.
I surrender my body to rest in the love of my Saviour.
I trust my life in sleep to the Spirit who fills me with life."