Lesson for the Week

Unexpected Blessings

Recently I went on vacation with my family. As we were making our way through Eastern North Carolina, we decided to stop at a local mall in Roanoke Rapids, NC: the place my father grew up. I walked in hoping to see a myriad of stores to peak my interest. What I found instead was a veritable ghost town: very few stores left since the building of the new Wal-mart shopping center. My daughter and I walked through the mall in a state of disappointment until we came upon a local military museum. A man named Dallas, one of the few Pearl Harbor survivors left, had decided to open this museum in order to celebrate the veterans that had been local to that area. Along with walls and walls of pictures, he also had newspaper clippings, replicas of ships, letters to soldiers and their families, and all kinds of military memorabilia. I was so excited about the place because I knew that my dad, being a history buff, would love it. After leading my father in, I left him to talk with Dallas while I continued to walk around checking out the Army tents, M.A.S.H. (not the TV show) table and surgical instruments, and soldiers' uniforms. As I was looking through one particular rack of uniforms, I came across one that had the name " C.H. Gilstrap" on it. Now, my father had known a man with the last name Gilstrap, and he loved the man dearly. When he first moved to Boone, NC, he had met Gilstrap through his work; and the man quickly became a mentor to my dad. After seeing the unform, I quickly pointed it out to my father, and low and behold, it belonged to my dad's friend. I could see the joy in his face as he held the jacket and recalled the times he spent with this man he admired so much. And not only was I grateful to God for this time with my father, but I was awestruck at how God works these things out. When I first got into that mall and saw how desolate it was, I wanted to leave. After having that experience with my father, I was grateful for the little rundown place. God is good, and even in the midst of something that looks like its going nowhere, God will still show up and give us His blessings.

Ezekial 34:26

Psalm 103:1-5

John 1:16