{"id":5317,"date":"2020-02-23T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-23T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5317"},"modified":"2020-01-26T19:26:51","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T01:26:51","slug":"the-lovely-surprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5317","title":{"rendered":"The Lovely Surprise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart\nsmile\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Barbara Dahlgren<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Seeing God do the lovely, unexpected thing brings me joy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many years ago, when I was a young teacher\u2019s aide at a Christian school\nin East Texas, it was my task to have the fourth graders put on a Thanksgiving\nplay. The children were all given assignments. Some were making the sets. Some\nwere coming up with props. Some were in charge of advertising. Some would\ndesign the program which would list everyone\u2019s contributions.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acting assignments were made and, of course, our theme had\nsomething to do with the Pilgrims and Indians. Diana was going to be an Indian\nprincess. She eagerly informed me that she was Native American and her\ngrandmother who lived in another state was a real Indian princess. So Diana phoned\nher grandmother asking her to mail an outfit she had worn as a young girl. I\nsaid, \u201cThat\u2019s lovely!\u201d It would definitely lend some authenticity to our little\nproduction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The children worked very hard. The kids really outdid themselves on the\nset designs. They decided if they couldn\u2019t have one of the coveted acting\nroles, they were going to make the best sets possible. I was impressed with how\nwell our performers learned their lines and how willing the other children were\nto prompt them when they missed a word here and there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came the day of our dress rehearsal. Everything was in place.\nHowever, Diana still did not have her costume. She was downtrodden. We came up\nwith a makeshift costume for her to use and I tried to prepare her for the\nworse. It seemed unlikely her outfit would make it by the next day and the show\nmust go on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not sure there is anything sadder than a disappointed child whose\nheart was set on something very special. And are we not all children in the\neyes of God? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day of the performance came. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now this school was not just one building but several small buildings\ncalled pods. Each classroom occupied its own pod. Ours had two entrances: one\nnear the back left and one near the right front. Desks had been moved to the\nsides to make room for folding chairs for our audience. Guests were greeted at\nthe back door, given a program, and ushered to their seats facing the cardboard\ncutouts of scenery in the front. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was with our cast who waited outside the front door, ready to make\ntheir entry. Diana asked me to wait a bit because her family wasn\u2019t there. We waited\nabout ten minutes but really could wait no longer. We had to go ahead with the\nperformance. I welcomed our guests and the show began.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First came the Pilgrims who looked the part, wearing their handmade\nhats and white paper collars. After a bit, the Indians knocked on the door and\nwere invited in. I couldn\u2019t believe my eyes! Before me stood a happy, excited\nIndian princess in the loveliest, most colorful attire ever. It was like a\nmiracle. Diana was beaming and I was holding back tears of joy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later Diana told me she was waiting outside when her mother arrived\nwith the package and quickly dressed her right before her grand entrance. God\nhad made a little girl and her teacher very happy that day. It still brings me\njoy thinking about this lovely, unexpected surprise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think God does the lovely, unexpected thing more than we realize. God\ndelights in us (Psalm 18:19). People use words like coincidence, chance, and\nserendipity when more than likely it\u2019s God doing the lovely, unexpected thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*****<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord, open my eyes that I may see\nYour hand in my everyday life. Help me recognize the lovely, unexpected things\nYou do for me and let me never cease to give You praise and thanks. I don\u2019t\nknow why You would delight in me, but You do. Please teach me to delight in\nYou!   <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile\u2026 By Barbara Dahlgren Seeing God do the lovely, unexpected thing brings me joy. Many years ago, when I was a young teacher\u2019s aide at a Christian school in East Texas, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5317"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}