Wonderings--June 22

What surprises you? It is a straightforward question, and yet, I don't know how often we stop and consider how we might address it? 

Today I want to share with you how I was surprised at VBS last evening. . . 

Each evening the children meet me in the sanctuary for our Bible lesson and story. It is a wonderful time of sharing and listening to each other. I have these lessons long enough that I have a good flow to how I attack the story. I feel comfortable with the work. As each lesson begins I ask the children to remind me about what they learned on the previous day. This choice accomplishes two things: 

1- It helps cement the lessons from God's Word. 

2- It buys me a little wiggle time if my lesson plans don't flow as smoothly as I hope and time is short. 

So as we began together, I followed my normal flow and asked the children to tell me about the story that we talked about on Monday evening. This is a fairly simple and foundational story that I knew they would remember --the crossing of the Red Sea. 

The children told me about the plagues and how the water split on both sides so God's children could walk through on dry land. They reminded me of Moses' staff that God asked Moses to raise as the waters divided on the right and the left. They remembered the anger of Pharaoh because he lost his slave-workers. We even heard about the baby Moses who was floated down the Nile and raised by his mother in Pharaoh's house. 

And then it happened. . . 

One little girl, no older than 3 or 4 years old, raised her hand. Her eyes were filled with excitement. Her face told me that I forgot something and she was going to fill it in. She spoke about the burning bush and said this: "God told him (Moses) to take off his shoes because he was on Holy ground." 

I didn't tell them that part of the story. Frankly I didn't know if they would understand the concept of Holy ground so I moved past it. And the story is so long that I did not have enough time to tell them everything from God's Word. But God showed up in her life and made sure we were aware of it. 

I paused and just looked at her with a smile. She got it!  

Affirming what she said, I commented that I left that part out last night, but that she was absolutely right.  When God and Moses met the space was Holy. It was my moment of surprise. A surprise in the faith can happen at any moment. It can touch any life, and if we are willing to dwell with each other, God does indeed show up and changes people. 

The rest of the evening my mind was focused on this little brown-haired girl for God had indeed been with her. 

I wonder if you have had this experience recently? I wonder if God might be getting you ready to surprise you in your faith walk? How might you respond to it? 

Blessings