Sue is back today! She sent me this article with the instruction to leave it as it is, do not change anything, except for grammatical editing, if need be. So it is with that “admonition” that I bring today’s post to you written by my sister-in-law, Sue Elkins. It is a wonderful reminder of the power of One. You can read Sue’s other posts, Who Was Hur here and Still I Will Trust You here. Be blessed!

Do you like nice surprises!  ME TOO!  Do you like giving surprises to someone?  I like that too!  Surprises can come in many different ways and you can give them so easily.  Let me tell you how.

Yesterday I was writing a card to an acquaintance that I hadn’t spoken to in quite some time.  Not a close friend, more like a business acquaintance, but her husband had died suddenly and I just wanted her to know I was thinking about her and praying for her during this difficult time.  I thought as I wrote the card, “She is going to be surprised to hear from me.”

My mind went back to a time 15 years ago when my Mother had passed away and I received cards from people I hadn’t heard from in a long time.  In a time of great sadness for me, it lifted my heart to know that they had taken the time to write me a note.   It was a nice SURPRISE.  I have tried to pay forward those surprises to others.

Matthew 25:35-40. “For I was hungered, and ye gave me meat, I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me….Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

It is a fantastic thought to think that when we reach out to our fellow man it is as if we are helping Jesus!   If Jesus was standing before us and asked for our help, wouldn’t any one of us stop whatever we were doing and do it right then? Jesus said that by helping others we are doing just that.   How long has it been since you helped Jesus?

Several years ago, one of my relatives had a habit of going to a certain restaurant drive-thru on a regular basis for a Coke. She went so often that she became very acquainted with the employee who was most often at the drive-thru. One day in conversation she found out it was that her birthday.  She left the drive-thru and went to the nearest grocery store,  bought a flower, returned to the restaurant and gave it to the lady at the drive-thru.  The lady (Tami) was so touched by her gesture, she started inquiring about my relatives’ church.

Over the next few months they talked at the drive-thru, but as it would so happen my relative ended up moving away,  and yet every time she came back to visit she always went to the drive-thru to check on Tami.  During one of those visits, Tami asked if she could meet her someday during her lunch break to talk about church.

This is where I come in….since my relative did not live in our hometown anymore, she wanted Tami to have someone to connect with when she visited church, so she called me.  We had lunch with Tami the next day and talked about how her life would NEVER be the same once she met Jesus.

That weekend she came to my church and 15 years later Tami, her husband and her 3 girls are all living for Jesus!

All because my sister-in-law, Nannette, YES our own Nannette, writer of Hope in the Healing, decided to SURPRISE Tami with a simple flower on her birthday!  She took the time out of her busy schedule to listen….To pay attention to her world around her and see if there was anyone, anywhere who might need a smile, a kind word, or a simple SURPRISE. I learned a valuable lesson that day.

2 Corinthians 5:20.  “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ…” Luke 14:23.  “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” There are people that need this message and we need to look everywhere to see if we can find them.  They may be at the drive-thru, they may be at the cleaners we visit every week, they may be at the bank….they may be your neighbor or co-worker.

Let’s be willing to take the time to SURPRISE someone with a card, a cake or a flower….it may start a conversation that could be the saving of their soul!

Lord, let me be aware of the world around me, NOT just MY world!!  Go and SURPRISE Jesus today!

Sue Elkins is a mother, a long time Broker/Associate with Re/Max Realty Professionals, and has recently “retired” from being a pastor’s wife for many years. But that has not slowed her down in ministry. She and her husband, Dexter, are still very active in their church teaching, ministering and being helpers as the Bible calls us to be. Her newest and most beloved profession in this life is that of grandmother to Roarke David and another grand-baby on the way!

Sharing with Thankful Thursday, Thought Provoking Thursday, Thriving Thursday, The Homemaking Party, Woman to Woman, Friendship Friday, Family Fun Friday, Essential Fridays, Fellowship Friday. Weekend Brew, Sunday Stillness, Moms the Word, Life Hacks, Homemaking Party, Hearts for Home, Teaching what is good, UNITE, Testimony Tuesday