“Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:40
I was excited when the church emailed that a Christmas caroling and chili night was planned. It had been a long time since I had gone caroling, and it has always been one of my favorite things to do at Christmas. The best part was always seeing the faces of the recipients as the familiar tunes were sung. There were always smiles of appreciation despite the quality of the concert. I didn’t know many details about the upcoming event but put it on the calendar. Ironically, North Carolina was experiencing an unusual cold snap, so I had to dig out the winter coats, scarves, and gloves. The cold weather only added to my excitement and anticipation.
We headed to the host’s home when the evening arrived, with chili in hand and bundled up for the cold. When we arrived, I could immediately tell something was wrong. My first clue was that there were no other cars at the house, and the second was the somewhat odd look we received as the door was opened. Remember, we are very new to the church, and many folks don’t know us. We saw this as an opportunity to participate in a service event, fellowship, and get to know our new church members. We learned we were one hour early for the chili event and that the caroling began at another home several miles away. Yep, I totally missed those details! After recovering from embarrassment, my first instinct was to leave the chili and go home, but the sweet hosts encouraged us to find the carolers. Driving down the road, I made the battle plan. Once we arrived and found the group, I would scout them out to see if I recognized anyone and evaluate if it would be too embarrassing to join in late. If so, we would drive back very slowly to the chili house and hang out on the street until everyone else showed up after caroling. In light of how the evening unfolded, I can only imagine God looking down on me, shaking His head, saying, you silly, prideful woman. Do you really think you can out-battle plan Me? And, He probably said, I thought this evening was supposed to be about blessing others and fellowship and not strategizing to save face. Not my best moment, for sure.
We found the group standing in a driveway; they hadn’t started yet. As we walked up, they welcomed us in and gave us song sheets. I was excited to knock on the first house’s door and work our way down the street. But I soon learned that was not the plan. We were told that the lady inside the house was a long-time church member and she was dying. The cancer had returned with a vengeance, and her life expectancy was very short. Her husband came outside to greet us and told us that his wife was feeling well enough for us to come inside. She wanted to meet us. She graciously welcomed us as we crossed the threshold and gathered around the kitchen island. The couple stood, arms entwined for strength, and joined us in song. At the finish of each song, she would share a little glimpse of her overwhelming hope in Jesus. By the time we ended with Silent Night, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. I’ve contemplated how to express the feeling of standing in the presence of someone with one foot in Heaven and witnessing the radiant joy on her face with every sense of my body. But there truly are no words.
I love it when God takes the simplest things, like Christmas caroling, and unexpectedly turns them into one of the most inspiring moments of our lives. And to think I almost missed it because of silly pride! We worship a big God who deeply loves the small, simple things and uses them to change our lives. God used very small stones to change David’s life forever. He used a tiny baby to bring salvation to the world. He can change the course of our biggest trial with a mere gesture. In this New Year, I pray we can anticipate and expect God to show up monumentally in the “little things of everyday life.” And that’s your Tuesday Tidbit.