Cheri Strange, Christian Speaker and Author

     I returned from a women’s conference this week that was exactly what I needed. Sometimes God speaks profoundly to my individual needs in the midst of hundreds of other women. This week, He spoke. He spoke more in generalities of my life rather than specifics. He spoke about calling and purpose, not my To Do list. This left me with a head full of fog --- ideas, possibilities, fears, tears, and points to ponder. All good – but I did not have time to process it. As soon as I got home, the precious realities of life (my husband, four girls, four dogs, and cat) were ready to have me back. The fog had to wait.

     The fog did not cooperate. I began to emotionally multitask: praying while driving and answering questions from the back seat; pondering possibilities and impossibilities while stirring the spaghetti noodles; and worrying myself out of participating in my Calling while folding the laundry.

     After dropping off the three oldest girls for camp, my little one and I made our way across town in the car. She promptly requested “her music.” Grabbing the orange Praise Baby CD I began to listen to her sing along with the melody. A few songs into our trip, God completely gripped my heart with a century old hymn called, “Jesus, I am Resting, Resting.”

     All of a sudden, tears were streaming down my face as I listened to the words. Words that spoke of God’s ability to supply all my needs, to demonstrate loving kindness to me that is broader than the sea and a petition to keep me trusting and resting in the joy of who He is – all came together in a sweet child-filled melody.

     It was a Boo Hoo moment that required several tissues. Yet I believe it was an unexpected encounter in which God reached down into my mundane routine of toting my quiver around town to touch me at my core issue: Am I going to trust Him in all this or not? And He did it using something as plain and ordinary in my life as a Praise Baby CD. Why? Because He knew that is what I needed and driving kids around in my car listening only to music such as Praise Baby is what I would be doing. It was a teachable moment and He seized it.

     The Lord will do the same for you. You may not have an orange Praise Baby CD (although I highly recommend it), but you have a God who knows what you need and where to find you. I pray for you today that when the teachable moment comes, you will embrace it, tissue and all.