When GOD sends you penguins

So this morning I woke up and felt pretty beaten and defeated. I was so aware of my humanness and the whole "your righteousness is like a filthy rag" thing was obvious. I had screwed up again and the contamination was trying to take hold of me.

Then the most amazing gift came in a text I had gotten the morning before. It was from the people whose house I am watching while they are overseas. The text wished me a happy Thanksgiving, and told me where some Christmas decorations were. That gave me a smile cuz it being my first Christmas in the States in my own home, I want to fully embrace the whole being able to have lights and glitz everywhere.

So this morning before heading out for Thanksgiving festivities, I looked in the closet where the decoration are stored, and what did I find??? 2 boxes full of nutcrackers!! Now that may seem like much to a normal person, but for me, I was giddy all morning. I love The Nutcracker. To me it is one of the most magical and enchanting stories ever. And it speaks so much to me of how GOD loves us and protects us, but that is another thought for another day.

The fact it is, had I gone in the closet yesterday and discovered the box, I would have been happy. But since it happened this morning, when I felt so beaten by the enemy, those little wooden statues had me floating. An hour before I had been telling GOD how inadequate I felt, and how I wondered why He put up with me and loved me. And while His conviction fell and He showed me an area I need to guard my heart and mouth more in, He then gave me such an amazing present. He gave me my penguins.

Now you may not know what I mean by that. Years ago I had to opportunity to hear Luci Swindoll speak and she shared about her adventure to Antarctica. She is a photographer and had asked GOD to send a whale her way so she could photograph it. And she just new she was gonna see one. Toward the end of her trip, she was on the boat and wondering why she hadn't seen a whale. She was so sad because she wanted to see this beautiful, epic creature of GOD. And (as I remember the story) about that time she noticed a couple penguins on a glacier. Then more and more. She said there were hundreds of them, playing and performing. It's as if they had been waiting for her to come and were posing for her. How fun and amazing that must have been!! What a sight to see!!

GOD told her she was so busy looking for the whale, that she almost missed the penguins.

Moral of the story, it is in the beautiful small details of life that GOD so often blows us away. Like me and the 2 boxes of nutcrackers. I felt GOD's love and delight in me (Psalm 45:11) so strong this morning. On a day that started out felling icky and defeated, GOD sent me some penguins in the form of nutcrackers, to set the stage for one of those rare perfect days. Which this Thanksgiving has been: One of those perfect days we wish we could freeze time for and live in.

Do you sometimes miss the penguins cuz you're waiting for the whale?