A 21 hour business trip which included four airports and plenty of heartburn was the agenda for yesterday. While being crammed like a sardine in a 600 mph can, Mark Batterson’s book, The Grave Robber distracted me from the misery.  He writes to my sense of adventure and risky undertakings.  The subject was miracles and I thought I could use one.

grinch steals christmas

Today included rain on my parade, an encounter with the Grinch who stole Christmas and I misplaced the Joy of Christmas because of that darned Grinch.  As you think, so you are, so I had to quickly right the ship and effect the environment with positivity and light.

a taste for pecan chicken salad

I was half-heartedly counting my blessings but lightly lamenting the supply of calendars I still had that remained unsold.  There are 10 days until the 2016 calendars need to be in someone else’s Christmas stocking so I could cover my printing costs.  I needed a change of scene, so I ordered my favorite pecan chicken salad (minus the blue cheese crumbles) from O’Charley’s.  My curbside pickup order was taken by the same young lady who has taken my weekly order for months.  As she approached my car, I looked at the stack of unsold calendars I overproduced and undersold and decided to give her one.  If I can’t sell them maybe I could give them away and perhaps bring a little unexpected joy to someone.

give God your little bit and watch what He does

I told her I was a photographer and a writer and I designed calendars and I wanted her to have one.  I told her I appreciated her and I wanted to wish her a Merry Christmas.  She looked at me like I had given her a million dollars.  She could simply not believe a perfect stranger had given her this gift.  She had tears and wonderment and said “Oh, I just have to give you a hug.”  And she leaned in to the car and we hugged each other. I told her I had a website and it was listed on the back of the calendar and maybe she might like reading some of my stuff.  She said “oh yes and the next time you come back, we will talk all about it.”

catalyst for someone else’s miracle

As I reflected upon this encounter, I reflected on Batterson’s book.  He said “One well timed compliment can open the door and let the future in.  One nudge in the right direction can change a plotline for eternity.  The right word at the right time can be the catalyst for someone else’s miracle.”

I have a feeling that today was someone else’s miracle.  I am going to believe that God had me right where He wanted me.  He gave me a taste for pecan chicken salad which put me right where she was.  This is a supernatural synchronicity that only God can orchestrate.  I was simply the ordinary extra in God’s supernatural subplot.  If you need the effect of a miracle, a humble prayer for help is a good start, but if you want to get in on the cause side, treat people as Jesus treated them.  Opportunities are everywhere.   Christ who indwells you has something He wants to do through you right where you are.

Hebrews 10:24  Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

an ordinary extra

If you are willing to be an ordinary extra, God will do something extraordinary.  Bless someone today, you never know what plotline God is orchestrating and the seemingly random act of kindness is not random at all.