At church, we've been going through a series about encountering God and experiencing the different facets of His love and personality.

It gets me thinking on my own about the different personality traits I like the best about God. (this is why I go to church, really, so that I get amazing ideas and think about them more on my own. plus fellowship. and the pizza!)

God loves surprises. He is the best at them. It always comes back to the fact that He holds the entire map of my life in His hands,  while I only get to see one little section at a time. My friendship with Grace would be an example of an extended surprise in my life. When we first met, at midnight on the last Sunday in October, I thought she was conceited, a bit over-bearing, and never for a second thought she would turn into not only someone I would lean on, but someone that I would love with my whole heart. She's never getting rid of me now---especially not since meeting her wonderful mom and aunties (and Charlie, the Dachshund!)

But there are smaller surprises too, and God uses them to remind me of his laughter and fun way of loving me as I need to be loved. Last semester it rained every single Thursday. Seriously. And you would think that after the second week of class I would have gone out and bought an umbrella. Ohhhhhh no. Every week after yoga, heading home and thinking with a sinking heart about all of the homework I had for Friday, and how much I wanted to crawl in bed forever, the sky would open up. The first time it happened I remember simply shrieking with delight and starting to skip. The second time, I giggled. The third time I danced.

My God loves to dance, and He loves to see his children alive with joy and delight. So, I can't be all that surprised that just when I thought I was starting to live a dream, he tapped me on the shoulder, pointed me in the opposite direction, and whispered, "look what I have prepared, just for you, darling".

May we all be listening for just these whispers...

-lab