I had something unusual happen to me yesterday. It made me laugh and cry all at once, which to me is the coolest combination of emotions. Everyday during my lunch break at work I have 20 minutes or so to read. When the weather permits (which fortunately is most days), I grab my book, sunglasses and a bottle of water and head outside to a nearby bench where I kick off my shoes and get lost for a short while. I pray fervently that God will protect this time for me. In asking that, I’ve committed to only read material that will contribute to my growth in Him. People pass by and look at me like I’m weird, but I don’t care – I’m perfectly comfortable with my weirdness. Anyone who knows me very well, would expect to find me with the latest from Max Lucado but recently something else caught my eye (sorry Max – but I can’t wait for your next one!), Captivating, Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul by John & Stasi Eldredge. Let me summarize where I was yesterday. John had gone on a business trip to Oregon and was able to capture some alone time with God on the beach. Then suddenly a humpback whale appeared before him close to the shoreline. The annual migration had passed and he knew this was a gift to him from God. Shortly after he and Stasi were at a retreat in California and, like her husband, Stasi took time to be alone with God. She prayed for a whale – feeling silly because she was secure in how much God loved her and He didn’t need to prove it by sending her a whale. But as her walk along the shoreline continued, she came across an orange starfish and she knew that just as God had given John a whale, he had given her a starfish. She thanked him for it and as she rounded a bend, what lied before her took her breath away – thousands of brilliantly colored starfish. She was surround by them and felt God’s extravagant love. I thought that was a beautiful story, intimate to each of them and it brought to mind a part from one of my favorite movies, You’ve Got Mail, where Meg Ryan is riding the subway in NYC and is telling of how once she read about a butterfly that got on the subway and that day one actually did. Anyway, I have always found that part amusing because you have all these busy people riding a train and are totally oblivious that a butterfly, of all things, has found its way onto the subway headed to Bloomingdale’s. But it is personal to her and she finds amazement in it. Why it came to mind – I have absolutely no idea. But at that moment I looked around and prayed, “God, I’m at a shipyard. I don’t think there’s much chance you’ll send me a whale or even a starfish but do you think you could send me something? Like Stasi, I too know that you have already proven your love for me by sending Jesus Christ to die for me but I would really like to see you.” I just sat in the stillness for a few minutes and relished the breeze that I was so enjoying at that moment. A few minutes later I continued reading and had only turned the page one time when something caught the corner of my eye. A butterfly. Sitting right there beside my left foot. Well, you can only imagine – I couldn’t keep the tears from welling up in my eyes. I’m about to go from being weird to just plain “nutso”. Even as I type, it stirs up those same emotions. So while I’m smiling, crying and thanking God for the gift there’s still a part of me that’s wondering – “is this really you God?” But then I turn around and there behind me is another one! That’s it, I close the book, put my shoes back on, and go inside to grab a tissue. All the while my heart is smiling. It was Him. It was personal, it was intimate, it was just ours. Now I have to wonder how many times has He done this before and I’ve missed it? Ladies, don’t miss it. Look for it everywhere in everything. He’s there.

Posted at 11:31 AM Read or Post Comments