Surprised by God

Pastor Steve from our Church began a new series a couple weeks ago entitled Surprised by God. This meant-to-be-fun Summer series has quickly turned into a look at a God who seems to love surprising His people. From the way He saved Israel from Egypt and the way He sent Jesus to this earth, to the remarkable test He gave Abraham after surprising him with a child in old age, God still surprises people.

Steve shared of two surprises in our own church body: A changed cancer diagnosis in a 25 year old man from terminal to treatable, and a 5% chance of survival during heart surgery into leaving the hospital just a few days later. Wow! How incredible.

It made me reflect on times when I've been surprised by God, some medical, some financial, some spiritual. We have a God who delights in surprising us with outcomes and paths that we didn't even know to exist.

While at this time of morning, I'm usually trying to grab every last second of sleep, I'm getting ready to clean our apartment's laundry room. That was a surprise. Faced with part-time jobs that took full time, we wanted to pay off credit card & student debt much faster than we were able. God surprised us when our apartment manager told us that he was looking for someone or two to clean the laundry and rec rooms for a good chunk off our rent. Surprise!

We're not ready to call up Dave Ramsey yet for the Freedom chant, but working our way. Thank you God.

How have you been surprised by God?

Farewell to Seniors '08

It is once again that sad time of year where we say goodbye to our Senior class and ready ourselves for the incoming Freshmen.

To help celebrate our Senior's time in the group, we create a farewell slide show. I'm showing this tonight at group. They will be missed!