Unexpected

Unexpected. I like that word. It makes me think of surprises, blessings, joy. So much of our lives is planned and purposed, but there should always be room for the unexpected.

Last night my husband and I had an unexpected night out without the kids. Children had ended up going in different directions to stay with cousins and grandparents for the night. Wow – when you’re married with little children having a night out and especially without a curfew (i.e. needing to be home for the babysitter!) is a treat indeed. And this was an unexpected, unplanned treat. We were able to go to the movies and see the Hobbit (fantastic movie) and then take our time over dinner.

It was an unexpected blessing from my sister and mother. And it made me ponder how often I can provide the “unexpected” to people. Whether it is the unexpected offer of babysitting, a cooked meal, the paying of a meal of a coffee for someone else.

When I think about Jesus’ life on earth, I think much of it was unexpected. It would have been unexpected for the woman caught in adultery to have Jesus come and rescue her. It was an unexpected encounter by the Samitarian woman at the well that meant that she and her town were saved. And I’m pretty sure that Lazarus being raised from the dead was unexpected for him! For the Disciples it was an unexpected call from Jesus to follow Him that certainly led to an unexpected life.

The contradiction though, is that to be the unexpected to people you have to live with an expectant heart. An expectant heart that God will use you and plant ideas and desires in your heart to bless others. Jesus may have been unexpected to many, but He lived with an expectant heart, hearing what God, His Father, was saying and then doing it.

I personally would like to be expectant that I can be an unexpected blessing to others!