We were chatting with someone recently about how their year is panning out so far. And this person said despite their strong desire to start the year in a certain direction, things were not quite going as expected.
Launched us into quite the discussion about How to Embrace the Unexpected.
Let me first confess, I’m usually not the first person volunteering for unexpected changes. In fact, we BOTH have to often force ourselves out of our comfort zone, because it’s… we’ll, it’s comfortable! So the thought of anything unexpected coming along to break up our pattern can be hard to swallow at times.
BUT. When we honestly look back at some of the best things that have happened in our lives, many of those things have been completely unexpected. The Unexpected job change. (Yup, one of us has been laid off before, YIKES!) The Unexpected opportunity heavily disguised as extra work. The Unexpected baby…
Wait, we haven’t told you about that?
Yes, in 2013 we got the shock of our lives. Years earlier, we had been diagnosed with infertility and did IVF to become parents of a set of amazing twin sons. We had settled into our new life as a family of four, began to find our stride, even resumed our travel adventures. It was great, too… one kid for me, one kid for you… And then, WHAM! An unexpected surprise.
I’ll admit, one of us was not thrilled. It was a tough adjustment. But of course, this unexpected surprise had led to one of the three greatest joys of our lives.
So our takeaway regarding unexpected blessings that you may encounter. Be open to what God is doing in your life. The wild, unexpected ride may turn out to be something beyond your wildest dreams. And even if it’s hard… or scary… or even unpleasant. It’s been our experience that the lessons that come from those types of experiences are ones that cause major shifts in awareness and preparation for major assignments that God has planned.