A Nice Surprise

We often aren’t aware of how things we are involved in affect others. Finding out can be an encouraging surprise!

There are many types of surprises in life—some bad and some good. Nice surprises might include:

• A multicolored sunset that slowly fades into the background of the sky—those passing minutes in which it seems time should really stand still.
• An unexpected gift of a sundae, with smooth globs of hot fudge slowly dripping down the edges of the vanilla ice cream.

Aren’t the nice surprises normally things that we receive from others or from our Creator?

The children’s choir

The nice surprise that sparked this blog post came as a result of volunteering to organize and direct the children’s choir at the Feast of Tabernacles. Now, you may be thinking, how is being a choir director a surprise? It’s a lot of work! If this is what you are thinking, you are correct. It is a big job, and it takes significant preparation. In fact, part of the children’s choir director’s job is to try to avoid any big surprises! (Little surprises, on the other hand, are cute and to be expected.)

Thankfully, the results of my time and effort, as well as the efforts of the children and their parents in learning the music, were evident. The children conducted themselves nicely and presented two pieces to the congregation, respectfully glorifying God with their musical offering. There were no big surprises in the presentation.

My surprise

My nice surprise happened much later that day as I met one of the brethren at the afternoon activity. The person related to me a series of health trials that she had been dealing with, along with a particularly rough stretch prior to arriving at the Feast. The person had been praying fervently for God to get her out of the depression she had sunk into as a result of the weight of the trials. Things had been going better, but she related that the weight of the depression had not been lifted quite yet.

That day at church had been a turning point for my new acquaintance. As the children sang with all their hearts, “Wow! It’s a great day to be alive!” she finally felt that weight lifted from her shoulders.

My nice surprise came when the person related this story to me and thanked me for being part of the answer to her prayer!

The lesson

As I pondered the significance of this event to my new acquaintance, I realized there was a lesson in this for me. No matter where I am or what I’m doing, I should do my best to serve and help others. God used the lyrics and my efforts and especially the children to encourage someone. I had not anticipated this, so hearing about it was certainly encouraging to me—and it was a nice surprise!

Barbara Lee attends the Twin Cities, Minnesota, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, and works as an IT business analyst in the financial services industry. She is a musician and an exercise enthusiast in her free time.

For more about encouragement, see “Encouraging Bible Verses.”