When God Shows Up...

I wish I could fully explain what today was like for me.
Heartbreaking. Rejuvenating. Frustrating. Hopeless. Hope-full.

That's my job. That's my life.

No hot tea tonight. It was a straight-up hot chocolate kind of day. With marshmallows. Two of them. And I'm talking those really huge campfire marshmallows.

I can't really talk specifics, confidentiality and all that. But, let's just say Satan's working on me and on my place of business pretty hard. Yet, today God showed up in a text message from a friend. The text went to someone else, but I was in the same room. And I don't care the number that text went to, God sent it to me. He was very clearly telling me,

I am here. It's ok. I haven't left.

I'm so lucky He's more faithful than me, because I was beginning to wonder where He had gone. And then suddenly, there He was. In a text message. Reminding me He is never further than my own heart. Funny how God shows up randomly like that.

Sometimes He is obvious. When a session breaks open, when hope is restored. When a hurt and lonely boy finds the love and redemption he has been searching for in bottles and needles. When disaster strikes and a group comes together to support. When cancer is healed. When a baby is born. When a cross is raised.

Other times He is sneaky. A fresh fallen snow. A hug from your mom. A 20 dollar bill stuck in your winter coat from last year when you're struggling to pay a bill. A perfectly timed text message from a friend. Flowers on the doorstep from someone who was a stranger 3 weeks ago.

I love that my God knows me well enough to reveal Himself to me on the level I am at. Sometimes I need it to be obvious, sometimes I am open to the sneaky. I love that I know my God well enough to look and listen for Him. I literally broke down sobbing when that text came through today because I don't understand that kind of love. Perfect love. It's overwhelming and to be honest, it's a little scary.

In this moment, I know I will be ok. Whatever happens in this situation, God will provide. But, I'm sure I'll forget that soon. I'll be weak again the second something uncomfortable happens, and in my line of work, that could be 8:02 in the morning. But God will still be there. And eventually I will remember,  because I will still be looking.

In the words of a verse. In the timing of a text message. In the joy of a fluffy orange cat sitting on my face. In a marshmallow melting in my hot chocolate.

And I'm talking those really huge campfire marshmallows.... but I'm sure He's in the little ones too.

Cheers.



"Don't try to fix the haters. You're not the jackass whisperer."
-Brene Brown