Greetings fellow God chasers.  I hope this finds you all well.

I don't feel like I'm full of wisdom or deep thoughts tonight.  Quite honestly I spent most of the day playing my guitar, getting ready for three days of music coming up this weekend, instead of thinking about a verse to write about.  I do feel like I need to share a few thoughts with you though.  Who knows, the longer I type, the deeper they may become.

First off, I'm thankful for the little surprises that God fills my day with.  When was the last time you were surprised ... pleasantly surprised?  When was the last time someone did something for you that was unsolicited?  More importantly, when was the last time you did that for someone else?  I just got done experiencing one of those unsolicited surprises via a wonderful chat/conversation with a young man studying in Australia at the Hillsong music school.  I'm sure it has some sort of official name, but it's the school associated with the Hillsong Church.  His mom and dad are long time friends of my wife.  I guess they're long time friends of mine too, since we've been married for 19 years now.  Like me, he's a musician and guitar player.  He's light years ahead of me in skill, and he's half my age.  Oh well :)  It's always easy to talk music with a fellow musician.  It's always easy to talk 'God' with a fellow Christian.  It's almost like God gives us those times ... those moments ... those interactions to keep us going.  Those are nice times to reflect on when things aren't going so well.  I'm thankful Brenten took the time to talk with me tonight.  It was a good distraction from the some of the things going on in my life.

He told me something that surprised me.  He said, "You've got so much Christ in you."  In the past I would have humbly brushed it aside, or come back with something negative about myself.  Right before that he said I was awesome.  He said it because I shared with him some of the volunteer work I've done.  Now to that I told him "nope ... just willing."  I left the Christ comment alone though.  I won't deny that.  After all, I asked Jesus to come into my heart 21 years ago.  I certainly hope after that long that it's evident to others that I follow Jesus ... but not for my sake.  I hope people see Jesus in me because I want them to see Jesus.  Period.

Do something special for someone tomorrow, but not because of how it will make you feel.  Do it because regardless of who you do it for, it's probably been a long time since they've had a pleasant surprise.  Good night and God bless you.