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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

He Just Showed Up

I know that Scripture says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."   It's a promise we have that when we go looking for Him, we will find Him.  He wants us to seek Him and look for His presence in the people and things around us.  He desires for us to always be on the hunt for Him.  Sometimes I think He even likes to play "hide and seek" with us, because there are many Scripture references to what He has hidden in our hearts.  So obviously, we are to seek those truths out.


But, did He ever just show up, without your asking, without your looking for Him?  I love it when that happens.  When I'm going about my life, forgetting about His presence and He just appears, those moments are so precious to me.  They are a gift from God, reminding us that He's there.  My pastor likes to compare it to a jack in the box.  It's a flash of God, popping out at you, bringing your heart back towards Him.


When these instances happen, I feel as though He is saying, "See daughter, you are so precious to me.  I'm here when you least expect it; when you're not even looking for me."  I remember the time a dear friend's mother passed away in the wee hours of a cold winter morning.  When my friend made it home from the hospital after her mother had passed, she sat at her kitchen table with a cup of coffee, in front of a big picture window.  As the tears streamed down her face a cardinal appeared on her window sill.  It just sat there while my friend slowly smiled and gave thanks to God.  You see, cardinals were her mother's favorite bird.  When my friend was feeling alone and so vulnerable, God showed up by sending that cardinal to comfort her.  He just showed up.


If you've ever read my post Living in the Dazzle, then you know how much I love sunflowers.  But we don't have any around here.  They don't grow very well in Oklahoma.  We get some wild ones every once in a while, but there are none in our neighborhood.  This summer, out of no where, this strange looking stalk started to grow in my flower bed next to my gladiolas.  I thought, "This looks like a sunflower.  No, it couldn't be."  But I've been watching it and it's just about to bloom...and it is a sunflower!  I know that God did that for me.  I wasn't looking for it, didn't ask him for it, didn't try to plant one.  He just showed up.  He had a bird or the wind or something (it really doesn't matter what) carry a sunflower seed to my yard just to show me He cares.  I can hardly wait for it to bloom!  Maybe next year, I'll have more.


Here it is! God's gift to me!!!
Do you have any examples of when He just showed up; made an unannounced appearance in your life and left and imprint of love on your heart?  I would love for you to share those experiences here to help build our faith in His love for us!  


From His lap,  

28 comments:

  1. Hi Erin -

    Yes, I have had many instances where God just showed up unannounced in many unique and interested forms. More recently, God has and is showing up in the form of really very good, special people to me. People like your self. Awesome mothers, fantastic wives, growing Christians, fabulous friends, and terrific writers.

    This is amazing to me. And there are many more of you coming everyday. I'm not really sure how or why, but then again I don't really need to know do I? All I know is that a lot of people have showed up lately and liking my stories...and they are telling and bringing others. Truly amazing! I'm happy and grateful for this...for you...for all of you.

    Soon I will be asking y'all to start making a list of your single sisters and single mother neighbors hahaha *smile* lol. Just thinking out loud so don't mind me, lol. I love your blog Erin. Thank you and have a wonderful Tuesday evening. :)

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  2. Stunning!
    Becky Jane

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  3. Erin,
    A few years ago my friends father passed away, because the funeral service was far away, I drove alone. When I got in my car to leave... the song playing on the radio was a song I sang to my mother when I was a child.
    Beautiful post Erin!
    Lisa

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  4. Beautiful post. I love clouds, I find them to be one of God's most amazing creations. One day last year, I was very sad, very lonely, sitting at my bedroom window. When I looked out on this cloudless, Florida day, there was a very small cluster in the center of my vision, very bright from the suns reflection and in the center of the clouds was the shape of a heart. This still makes me smile.

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  5. Beautiful, Erin. I remember saying at times "That's so God", but can't remember the instances. I'll have to pay more attention to remember when this happens.
    Susan

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  6. One day I was in the shower and practically crying because my 20 year old sons have rejected God. All the sudden I remembered flying with them as children. Every time I prayed for safety. Then I always ended with, "But, God, if there is any chance that any of my children might grow up and not know you, please let us all die now." It was like God reminding me that he answered that prayer for safety and answer the prayer for my boys salvation also!

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  7. Love that God sent you that sunflower. You really needed a sunflower in your life about now! Amazing! Thank you, Lord for your goodness! Dianne

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  8. He just showed up for you, didn't He, Lisa! He's so faithful!
    ~Erin

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  9. Oh Shanda, that's good!! I'm so glad that He reminded you of that. Your boys will be fine! The Lord has His hand on them!
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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  10. Caryn, right from God's heart to yours. He is so good and always on time!
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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  11. Hi Erin - this is lovely. I also love it when God does something for me that makes me feel special and its unexpected. There is this couch I have - long story - but I will never be able to part with it because I feel God specially found it for me. Great post.
    God bless
    Tracy

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  12. yes; your post this morning-
    thank you
    george

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  13. Beautiful. Ronae

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  14. Isn't He so good, Dianne? He proves Himself over and over. I love Him so!
    Love you!
    Erin

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  15. My Daily Walk in His Grace, I bet you love, love, love to sit on that couch no matter how old it is!
    Blessings,
    Erin

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  16. George, you just totally blessed me. Thank YOU!!!
    Erin

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  17. I loved this! It reminds me of the starfish story in Captivating. Like some of the others who commented, I can't think of a specific moment, so I think that means I need to pay a little more attention. :)

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  18. Brian, what a kind and sweet thing to say. You know, when you talk to folks like that, you edify them and build them up in the faith! You are a blessing to me and I bet you'd be surprised at how many others you bless with your friendship and your writing!
    ~Erin

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  19. You are so right; we need to be alert to His constant presence and His wonderful messages to us which are often sent in very unusual ways....
    I am always looking for that special touch from His hand.....

    We are keeping our three grandchildren for nine days due to a death in the family and yesterday I was so tired I thought I couldn't take another step when the two year old came over and gave me a big hug....I knew that was God saying I love you and you can do it.......It really gave me the boost I needed to continue to play and take care of them.....

    Hugs and blessings,
    Nancy

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  20. Nancy, there is nothing like the love of a child to fill our hearts. Wasn't God good to give you that little gift just when you needed it!

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  21. I love this post, Erin! It reminds me of a time when my own mother passed away. On the morning of her funeral (in December) I saw the most beautiful rainbow. God certainly showed up then by sending a rainbow to remind me that He cared.

    Blessings,
    Joan

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  22. Joan, I bet you were so comforted by that rainbow and it made you smile through your tears.
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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  23. Erin - Love reading your post & all the responses. I recall in one of my darkest hours...God revealed himself to me in a mighty & strong way. He would not relent and stayed in such a strong presence and way. At the time...I actually walked out of the room to get away...because I knew I was in sin. But now I know it was exactly what you mentioned...a confirmation of His goodness, His assurance, His faithfulness to NEVER let go....even we let go of Him. ~ Jen

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  24. Jen, He held on to you so tightly. He never gave up on you. I have tried to walk away before too...it was too painful to face what He was telling me...but He held on and brought me back, just like you.
    He's so faithful!
    ~Erin

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  25. Just stumbled upon this blog and thought I'd share a story,

    My friend told me a few weeks ago while we were standing at her father's grave (who died of cancer several years ago while she was in high school) about signs the Lord gave to her sometimes. She said that she decided to lie down for a nap, which she never does, but for some reason she was just really tired. She fell asleep and starting dreaming very vividly, which she rarely does, and this dream just so happened to be about her grandmother. In her dream my friend told her grandma all about what had happened in the last few years (her grandmother passed away three years ago), about her friends, her family, everything, she said that in the dream her grandmother had a great white light behind her, that she couldn't see her face but there were golden rays of sunlight. Anyway, she woke up and was very surprised/startled, and decided to tell her mom. Her mom took it all in, and gave her a hug. My friend asked her what that was for, and her mom said, "Today is your grandmother's birthday."

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  26. Aw, what a sweet story. Your friend's mom probably really felt comforted by that story. Almost like God was saying He remembered her mom's birthday.
    Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your story.
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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  27. Recently we received an amazing gift from God, completely unexpected. We were able to go watch my son play football in Maui, Hawaii. On this trip, we hiked all the way up to where the Seven Sacred Pools began, I snapped a picture of the glorious waterfall with my phone, only to discover the next day an INCREDIBLE image of CHRIST in the waterfall. It left us speechless. He just showed up. I posted the image on my blog...please stop by & see it.
    http://bowlofinspiration.blogspot.com/2011/09/unmistakable-image-of-christ.html

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  28. Lisa,
    Thank you so much for stopping by! I'm going to hop to your blog right now and ck out your post! Thanks so much for sharing!
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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Thank you for giving us a little nugget of truth from your heart!

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