Made me smile....

Today, a good friend and I went to see the movie "Enchanted". A very good movie I must say! It's a cute cartoon/reality fairytale movie....I was waiting for my friend to use the restroom and saw the most precious sight. It was a dad and a little girl about 3 years old that had been to this movie walking down the hallway hand in hand, their leftover bag of popcorn all folded up in daddy's hand and his daugther's little hand in the other. I heard her say..."Daddy, I want to go do some more fun stuff!" her little voice, so innocent and precious and so full of joy. You could tell that spending that time with her daddy had made her day! He grinned from ear to ear..."What do you want to do?" he asked. Although I couldn't hear her response their little conversation made me smile! He was full of joy too...he waited as she went to throw something in the trash, lifting the lid when all she really needed to do was throw the trash through the hole on top...he helped her out not making her feel silly for not knowing how it worked...he was so full of patience and love for his little girl....when they exited the building, he reached down again and grabbed her hand...off they went in search of their car just smiling away. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face either. Then the thought came to me...that is what my Father God is to me. He rejoices when I get to have a Daddy date with me. I can hear Him asking me to spend some time with Him just as I am sure this daddy had asked his little girl if she wanted to go to the movies. I forget so easily that He is a Father to me. He rejoices and smiles over me, just like this dad did his daughter. He, my Heavenly Father, reaches down for my hand and wants to walk and talk with me...I was humbled and full of the Father's love for me all over again! It made me smile!!!

What if it's Him???

I wanted to share what God showed me on New Year's Eve at our church's annual card party... Every year, our church clears out the auditorium and sets up a number of card tables all in preparation for our Annual New Year's Eve Card Party! This year, I was supposed to be with the Youth Group at a separate party in a local gym...but asked our Youth Pastor if I could attend the Card Party in effort to reach out to the college group...and I am glad that he said yes. After filling our plates high with food and settling in to our seats, the game began. We play a game called Hokum Bridge which requires you to switch partners and tables every round...so, you are constantly meeting new people. A couple hands into the game, I noticed a new guy walk in the back of the auditorium. He was a big guy and I started to feel very intimidated. One of the ladies and a couple guys went to talk to him...no one knew who invited him or how he knew we were having a party. He went back to the food room and filled a plate of food and then went to our Pastor to ask if he could play in the game...there wasn't a space available right then, but he was welcome to wait and fill in if people needed to leave. I watched as he walked all the way around to the back of the church and sat down at a table by himself. So many thoughts were going through my head...compassion, fear, pity, intimidation....who was this man? I watched as different people would go up to him and sit down and talk to him...again...who was this man? To make a long story short an opening became available in our row, and this man ended up being my partner the next round....in the moment that I realized that he was to be my partner...the scripture that says...if ye have done it to the least of these, ye have done it unto me....hit me like a ton of bricks...I asked myself...what if this man is Jesus? I am not meaning to sound strange...I just realized that God puts people in my path every day and I am being tested as to how I will respond to them....what if it's Him? What if He disguised Himself as this man to see how He would be treated in a church full of believers? What was my response to Him? I learned a valuable lesson that night...Who am I to choose who deserves the Father's love...I can't pick and choose who I reach out to just because of their outward appearance...I need to extend the arms of Christ and His love to every person that I come in contact with...there is a hurting world out there that desperately needs to see and feel the Father's love...what am I doing to share that today? Who knows what this man's story was...but I do know that he was sent to our church that night to remind me that I need to reach out to every person that comes across my path and be an extension of Jesus to them...this world needs Jesus...am I showing them a clear picture of Who my Savior is?