On my way back from the 4-hour church service on Christmas day I asked God for a surprise. I wanted something shocking to happen and little did I know that He already had it well in hand. I got home and settled in, expecting to be home alone for the whole afternoon with a break in the solitude to skype with family. At around 2 I got a knock on the gate.
Standing outside my gate with a pikipiki (motorcycle) was a young Tanzanian guy that I had never seen before. He greeted me and then told me "I've come to fetch you."
After replying with utter shock and confusion, he informed me that his mom and sent him to bring me to their house. Again, I couldn't help but respond with confusion because I had no idea who he was, who his mom was and why on earth I was supposed to be going to their house. Finally, I figured out his name was Jeremiah and he was the son of Veronica (AKA: Mama Jeremiah) who is one of the cleaning ladies at the office.
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| Veronica and me |
I had to make a quick decision - do I go with this young lad to his house, knowing that it means missing a skype call with family, it was NOT part of my plan for the day, plus wouldn't it be awkward for the first visit to someone's house to be on Christmas day? Well, the answer was simple...of course I'm jumping on the back of this pikipiki and we'll just see where the day leads!
As I was sitting (side-saddle, because I'm a lady) on the pikipiki I felt God say; "Well, you wanted to be surprised, Merry Christmas!"
It was then that I remembered a two-line conversation with Veronica 4 weeks before Christmas where she said; "You should come visit over Christmas." I replied; "Sure, that sounds like fun."
Honestly, that was the entirety of the conversation and not another word was mentioned until her son arrived at my gate. Every other Christmas I've ensured that I am with people every second of the day because the idea of being alone on Christmas day sounded so tragical. God knew that I would likely be home alone on Christmas day and that I love surprises, so He prepared it all for me. Had I been striving to ensure that I had plenty of people to spend Christmas with, I wouldn't have been home that afternoon. Had I been seeking to have my needs met, or at least what I perceived as my needs, I wouldn't have been around to receive God's gift.
I've been learning a lot about maintaining focus on God and trusting His good character instead of looking at my circumstances and seeing God through them. He is there in the midst of them, but I interpret my circumstances based on the character and nature of God, instead of understanding the character and nature of God based on my circumstances. I had peace through my circumstances because of where my focus was. "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." (Isaiah 26:3)
So, the reason this was the best gift ever?
A: It came from God.
B: It was a complete and utter surprise.
C: Relationship with people is always the best gift. We had a wonderful meal, enjoyed each other's company and took a walk around the area greeting others as we crossed their paths. One of the most hilarious parts was the 5-year-old doing exercises throughout the living room, including push-ups and tricep-dips. I asked him where he learned to do all these exercises and he said; "I don't know, God just taught them to me."
D: It showed me that my focus was where it needed to be and it encouraged me to not grow weary in growing in this area.
I couldn't ask for a better gift.
PS: I was able to have a friend email my family to let them know I would be late for the skype call, so I didn't even miss out on talking with them :).
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