[learn_press_profile]
This week I got a Christmas present in the mail from my mom. I had known what was coming – or at least I thought I did – because I had helped pick it out. In fact, I had even sent her the link to the page where she could order it and have it shipped to me. She told me that she had ordered it, sent me the link where I could track the shipment and had even complained that it was taking so long. Not the most surprising way to approach the giving and receiving of gifts, but one that had me looking forward to my gift all the same. But I WAS in for a surprise!
Yesterday Jozi texted me and told me that I had a package waiting for me at home. I said, “Oh that is probably the smoothie cups grandma ordered for me!” I needed to replace the one that was stolen out of my van! She said, “Well it does say cups on the front of it, but it’s really small.” She didn’t specify anything more than that, but I was assuming it was a well packaged thing that took as little space as possible on the journey from China. But, when I got home, I too was surprised by just how small the package was.
The “package” was actually an envelope that was probably three inches by five inches and was less than an inch thick. The Customs Declaration Order was written in a mix of Chinese and English, but it clearly said (with the help of Google Translate’s camera app) that these were two 24-ounce cups. There was just no way that there could be a cup in that envelope. When I opened it, I found two parts to the smoothie machine. I could tell what they were for, but I would have no idea how to install them, even if I had needed to. Not exactly what I was expecting – and not exactly useful!
This has me thinking about expectations, plans and control, and it makes me realize something important about life. As much as we would like to imagine that we know what is coming, we don’t. As much as we would like to think that we are in control, we know that is not actually true. We can look ahead to what we think is coming, we can even make plans for those things to happen, but we do not know what is around the corner. Life can change in the blink of an eye and the best laid plans can get tossed in the pile heap of broken dreams and good intentions.
This was made clear in 2020 for all of us with so many twists, turns, starts and stops to our year. We had some great plans set out in front of us for the year, but things were different. We had to be open to what we could do and realize what we couldn’t do. We had to try things that we would never have imagined and some things that we would never have chosen. The 2020 “package” we got was not what we ordered, but we will see, as we look back on the year that it was a powerful year of ministry and life together as a church.
That is part of the challenge we have in keeping in step with the Spirit. We tend to get into a rhythm of life. We often become sure of what we think is coming. We become stuck in our plans or our understandings and we miss out on opportunities to participate in things that God is inviting us into. We know what we ordered, we know what we are expecting, we can even read it on the “customs declaration” of life, but when we open the package we might be surprised. Lets’ keep in step with spirit together and be open to what we are sent!!
