Day 4 Council Retreat Day

Day 4 greets me with a devotional thought from a book by Henry T. Blackaby, Experiencing God Day-By-Day.

Surprise! Here are a few thoughts from todays devotion...

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 09, 2008
Encounters with God

'But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. (Acts 26:16)

God was working in your life long before you began working with Him. The Lord knew you before time began, and He knew what He wanted to do with your life (Jer. 1:5; Ps. 139:13)...

Our Lord does not come to us to discover what we would like to accomplish for Him. He encounters us in order to reveal His activity and invite us to become involved in His work....When God shows us what He is doing, He invites us to join Him in the work He is doing.

Are you prepared to meet God today? Don’t seek to hear from God unless you are ready to ask, as Paul did, “What shall I do Lord?” Read the whole devotional at: http://www.blackaby.org/devarchive.asp

How appropriate as I prepare for the Council leadership retreat at church this morning. It is our first meeting as team and I always look forward to what God is doing or going to do at such a gathering. We had a great retreat and it is going to be a very strong leadership team. Again it's like we have been given a bunch of Christmas presents and now we have the privilege and honor to open each one and be blessed by what God has given us. They will be full of surprises as they and we discover how their giftedness fits into the leading of our church family.

Snow and cold....burrrrr...No Surprise! Surprise...Sunshine!! NO MATTER HOW COLD IT IS, IF THE SUN IS SHINING IT'S NOT THAT BAD...ya right.

One surprise of sorts was when I said that today was Day 4 of the journey. One of our council members said it was Day 3 for them because they didn't know about the journey until Ash Wednesday. It doesn't matter when you start or started...we are on a 30 day journey praying the 3 word prayer and making note of the surprise encounters with God at work in and around us...so no matter what day it is for you keep your eyes open and be ready for God sightings in your life. (PS...I have found that if I read the chapter of the day I am on currently...it amazes me how Terry's thoughts and reflections are surprising in light of my own as go through the journey...just a thougth)

Pastor T

Surprise me god.

God gives me surprises almost everyday. But most days I am so busy thinking about other things that I don't really pay attention the surprises. When I wake up in the morning the first thing that I think about typically isn't "what does God have in store for me today?" But, during this lent season, that is going to be my goal. To wake up and think that. And then maybe throughout the day I can be able to see the things that God does for me and how he surprises me every singal day. So I am going to keep track of those surprises with this blog for the rest of this lent season. I encourage you to do the same.

~Kelsey Kimball

From Tom Heinrich, Sat Feb 9, 2008

Well, I've been doing good with my Surprise me God prayer in the morning. The first morning (Thursday) I didn't remember until I made it downstairs for a cup of coffee. But then again, it was 4:30 in the morning! I told Connie to get me up when she got up for work (yes, she gets up at 4:00 am everyday) and so I was still wiping the sandman out of my eyes. So my prayer didn't get asked until I hit the coffee pot. "Surprise me God".

Off I trundled to work to hit the fitness center and then get an early start to the day. No surprises on the treadmill, I still struggled to get to 3 miles!

Friday I did remember my prayer before my feet hit the floor. "Surprise me God." I found myself repeating this simple little mantra several times in the day. It helped me to keep things in focus and remember that there are bigger things than the minute by minute struggles of the work day.

Saturday, with the weather going from soft gentle snow flakes to heavy wet snow to blowing heavy wet snow to bone chilling wind whipping now frozen sharp snow I think my "Surprise me God" prayer took on a bit of sarcasum, like, "Okay, what's next?" God, maybe in His answer to my smart-alecky tone, decided to do just that: the sun popped out! I thanked Him, we smiled, the day goes on. Thanks God. Tom

Day 2 and 3

Oh how the days fly by and we forget to notice even the very simple surprises God gives us. As I reflect back on the past two days, which seem a blurr, I remember many simple things, a smile, a warm hug and having a nice conversation with a co-worker whom I haven't had time to converse with for some time.
This Surprise me God idea is awesome. It has given me a sense of inner peace, after I say my small prayer in the morning, I smile. I am again amazed how God lifts us up each day even after such a simple request. I am constantly learning how God carries me through each and every day, with out me even noticing. So now with this small daily prayer I am starting to become uniquely aware of the simple things, and saying thanks. I ask why do we think that a suprise has to be grand.....?
One more nice surprise was attending the Preachers in sneakers game last night after the Timberwolves game.....Luke is a great player! Gods peace Sue

On Thursday, my father was admitted to Hospice. During his admittal, we found out he has melanoma skin cancer that has spread through his body. This was shocking news for all of us and we were stunned by how quickly he was detiorating.

I had a hard time finding God's suprise on Thursday. I'm confident he will forgive me for being blind for a day.

Friday I said my prayer again. I snuck in a quick "make it better than yesterday, OK?". Yes, I realize this is NOT what the program is about, but I was feeling a little cynical.

I went to the hospital, expecting the worst. Instead, I found my father sitting up and he smiled when I walked in the door. He can no longer speak, but is communicating periodically with facial expressions: huge eyes when offered ice cream or tapioca pudding; puckered face when offered diced mushrooms; the stink eye when his four children started a fight after it was suggested that someone had cheated during a game of cribbage.

As I left the hospital, I thought about how wonderful it was to see some life in my father today but still felt this immense sadness over the challenge of the coming days. The elevator then stopped on floor three (the baby floor!). A man stepped on and said "We're a big group". Three women, two babies, four children and three teenagers stepped on, every one of them laughing and giggling with joy. One of the boys turned to me and exclaimed "We just had a baby!!!". Everyone laughed with excitement and started chatting.

As I got in the car, I realized my heart felt light. I had been surprised with a great day with my father. I had time with my siblings that I do not normally get. I was reminded that families will stick together through all things, both sadness and joy.

My day was full of great surprises. I can't wait to see what today brings.

Jill Schuerman

Day 3 Phone Call Day

It has been a good day full of phone calls.

First Call: Don't forget to watch Nicholas on the Today Show! I baptized Nicholas and it was such joy to see him walk upright and just about run on to the set where Matt L. was sitting with Nicholas' family. What a surprise...God can use a terrible disease that disfigures a little body from birth to put tears in my eyes again at 8 am in the morning. I was moved deeply by Nicholas' spirit and humor. God is going to surprise us all with what Nicholas is going to do in the years to come. His great grandmother and great grandfather were missionaries in the Lutheran church. He comes from a faith filled family and his strength comes from Jesus' Spirit in him. Surprise 'em all Nicholas!

Mid-morning phone call: Matt and Andrea are getting married today in Estes Park, CO...what a surprise...didn't expect it but happy for them. It is a second marriage for both and they are a great match. We've been praying for them for some time and guess God has answered our prayers with a surprise.

Mid-afternoon call: It was Mary S. and Ms "B" reporting that Steven Chase was crowned Snow King! What a neat call...way to go, Steven!!

Moments later another call: Craig and Katie R are homeowners!!! We prayed hard since Wednesday when it looked like the wheels were coming off the cart...God surprised us again...

I have often wondered that when we pray and God's answer is favorable...why are we surprised...we did pray...we did ask. If the answer is not favorable in our perception...why are we are not surprised and say well prayer doesn't make any difference...why pray?

I am in awe of how God is working all the time in our midst and it only takes a few minutes a day to recall all the events of the day, in light of God's presence, to recognize a possible God Sighting.

Thank you Jesus for this day of many happenings. Give me eyes to see so I may not miss a one.
Pastor T

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Big and Little

My first day of the experiment started yesterday.
I woke up and as an appology my mom had made me breakfast. That was a nice start to my day, but then SUPRISE, I started fighting with my brother.
I got an A on two of my tests. That was a pleasant suprise.
The day was starting to wear down, and as I was contemplating what my suprises of the day were I got a text from one of my friends. This lead to a phone call, and it was a really personal, great conversation. Getting this close and honest with someone was deffinately my suprise for the day. It really brought our relationship a lot closer together.

Then today. I overslept and had five minutes to get ready. Now I'm not a high maintenence girl, but wow, that was a stretch. Its just been a long, stressful day full of family issues are arguments. Maybe I'm just not realizing it yet, or maybe my suprise will come later.

If nothing else, I have faith to assume God is prodding me along.
But I think that we get suprises on different levels. One day it might be subtle things that you take for granted. The next you might acknowledge some of them, but they are really no big deal. Then, there's the big things. Those slap you in the face suprises, and even just writing this I've kind of realized they may not all be good, but that's another leap of faith I have to take. I have to assume that everything will turn out.

So I'm ready God. Surprise me.

Jackie Winters

What is a Surprise?

I've been thinking about this whole surprise thing. I mean what is a surprise? Take a surprise party for instance - if someone is throwing a surprise party for you everyone knows but you. All your family and friends won't be surprised when you walk in, but you will be. So maybe in this whole surprise me God thing God knows, He has known all along. Maybe I have to discover my surprise. Maybe the point of this thing is for me to surprise myself. To find the courage within myself to do something surprising. I'm sure I'll need some help, which is why I am praying. May God give me the strength to surprise myself.

-Kate S.

Day two... surprises are everywhere...

Last night after the Ash Wednesday service I asked some people to blog for this little faith experiment. Some people were really excited about it, and some were sort of lukewarm about it, so I wasn't sure what kind of response we were going to get on this site. Today I turned on my computer and came to this blog and was absolutely blown away by the experiences that people are having already!! One of the things that makes this faith experiment so "surprising" to me is the varied ways that God surprises people. It really shows me all the ways in which God can work, and in all the different people and situations God places love and grace and just plain presence. It's so amazing.
I'm learning that praying this three word prayer is a really scary thing... I keep telling people that I'm afraid that by the end of 30 days I'll end up pregnant as some big cosmic joke... like God is saying "well, you asked for it!" But despite how scary it can be to pray this prayer, people are putting some pretty big trust in God to do whatever God wants. To me, this is powerful ... and while it shouldn't surprise me - it does.
Natalia

Here's to the surprises to come... whatever they may be!!

Day 2- What?!

Sleep seems to be at a premium these days/nights. Went to bed thinking about God sightings and God Surprises only to find I kept waking and wondering about tomorrow. It started quietly with the normal activities. When I arrived at the office I found staff members waiting to tell about their Surprises. It was fascinating and amazing. God surprised me with how aware we were after only a few hours of how God was active all around us...in our families and friend's lives and affairs. I wondered if that was the Surprise or God Sighting for the day? Then the phone rang...it was my sister out East. She called to say her son, Brad, the Marine pilot, was in Kuwait and heading home. He would be in NC by Sunday. We had been wondering and praying for his return this week but not a word had come...silence...anxious days and nights. Then today...good news...coming home! Awareness and reporting of sightings was the rule of the day...I wonder what it will be like tomorrow...will I sleep or be restless again anticipating the dawn of a new day?

Now I lay me down to sleep...

Pastor T

Confirmation Drop-out

Yeah, believe it or not, I went to Prince of Peace for confirmation ten years ago and I dropped out in my last month of it. Now I'm mentoring an awesome girl in the same program that I forsook so many years ago. How does that work? And I'm a student in seminary school (school for wannabe church people), so I think that it's funny how God surprises us over long periods of time. I went from a bold atheist at the age of thirteen to a wannabe pastor!?! Now here I am hanging out with an 8th grader who seems to have more faith than I do. We had a great meeting on Ash Wednesday and I asked her a question that wasn't on the list..."even though this is mandatory for confirmation students, what do you hope to get out of these meetings?"
I won't share her answer, in case she doesn't want me to, but I will share my answer. I hope that I can renew my faith in God. Like an earlier blogger I read, I sometimes don't understand how God can let so much evil exist in this world. Where is He? Why do I feel like my prayers go unanswered? Hasn't He ever heard of email, or text messaging? So I hope that through this experience, I can learn to hear God better. I wouldn't be surprised if He spoke more clearly through an 8th grader than through a seasoned sermonizer. What the heck...surprise me? Please? -Erin Stoney

Surprise!

And its begun, our quest for God to surprise us. It's very interesting, like Natalia said, I seem to be looking for surpirses. Not much of a surprise, then, is it?

The only story I have so far is from yesterday, the first day. I worked until midnight the previous night, so by the time I was in bed it was already Wednesday. Now, I know that we are supposed to pray in the mornings, but I thought I'd give it a shot before I went to bed, just to get a head start. Technically, it WAS the beginning of the 30 days.
To understand the next part of this, you must also know that I have over 950 songs on my iPod. When my alarm goes off in the morning, it picks one song from that list to wake me up. And to my surprise, it picked Peace by the Robbie Seay Band. What a great way to start our little experiment.

"The winds are blowing strong. God of Heaven come."

I'm really excited for this season of Lent, to see what God can do in all of us!

Until next time, God Bless!

Robert Coder

My First Surprise, Day 1

When I woke up very early this morning and prayed "Surprise Me, God" I didn't expect anything dramatic on Day 1. I am one who doesn't necessarily like "surprises" so my expectations were not elevated. We had our pastoral care team meeting a 8:30am and staff meeting at 9am. Following the meetings as I walked to my office past Barb B's office she said, "Did you get the email?" "No, what email?" I said. "I'll forward it to you." she said. "It was addressed to both of us."

On Tuesday night Barb and I plus some of our staff and council had lead the New Member Orientation. Sometimes you wonder if it is beneficial for those who come or not. We had a very nice group of folks and all had gone well.

So when the following email was in our email boxes at 9am Wednesday it was a huge Surprise!
-----------------------------------
Subject: Last night's meeting

Good Morning Barb and Pastor,

Last nights meeting was truly a wonderful experience for my husband and I. Thank you for a great introduction to what will now be our home church! I have to tell you that after we got home last night and tucked the kids into bed, my husband and I stayed up until almost 11:30 talking about the "effortless" connection we had especially with Pastor Ostrem, along with the other staff members that we were able to speak directly with. My husband and I agreed that as we sat there and even after the meeting we felt nothing but warmth, openness and compassion from all of your staff and just knew that in some way we were truly guided to all of you!

I have to tell you that it was truly wonderful being called a Christmas present! It's a first and one that I will always remember. It might seem silly but those words honestly instilled my faith even more.. knowing that I was going down the right path for myself and especially for my children. I haven't been apart of a church in many years and being away from it has affected me, it was something that I was truly missing. The best way for me to describe it is, I was simply "craving" it. I decided that becoming a member, being involved and enrolling my children in Sunday school was going to be my New Years resolution. Especially so my children can build, experience and find faith in their own personal way! I thank you for those simple, yet very empowering words. I mean't more to me than you will most likely ever know!
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I read this during the sermon for Ash Wednesday and invited everyone to join the journey of praying the simple three word prayer and then record what God is doing around and with us. I never expected such quick turn around time but God is an amazing God and I am amazed by God's grace and beauty in this day. I have been encourage and looking forward to what God has in store for tomorrow...Keep your eyes open!

Pastor Tedd

Please God, Surprise Me

So basically,
I'm not really the kind of person that things work out for. I mean I guess I've got it all: good grades, good family, awesome friends; but beneith that, I'm constantly getting screwed over while the other person benifits from my failure. I suppose that may not make sense.
Anyhooo, I need change and surprises, and sometimes I feel like God just ignores little old Jackie.
So this is it; please god, surprise me.
:D
Jackie

Surprise me!

I was asked to post a blogg??? a what??? to tell you how God suprises me? little old me??
This is a wonderful way to share how my God works in my life, and suprises me.

Tonight I have to say was first a surprise to be able to attend Ash Wednesday service, because due to my job I have been unable to come. So when my schedule changed...( #one surprise) I rushed out of work and arrived at church a little late.! It was awesome to see all the people and participate in this service.

Then during communion several people I have not seen for a while, tapped me on the shoulder to say Hi ( # 2 suprise.)
It was great to see these people who have been a part of my life. God truly suprsied me with reuniting me with these old friends and placing a huge smile on my face and warmth in my heart.
I am excited to see what God has in store for me tomorrow.......he only knows :) Gods peace Sue

Surprise Me

Surprise me God, no really surprise me. I have to admit I've really fallen out of practicing faith; I'm always too tired to pray and too busy for church. I feel like my faith has lost all its luster, it isn't the new, exciting drive that it use to be in my life and I miss it. But at the same time I can't have the same faith that I use to because I've grown, I've learned and I've seen so much more of the world and of people. I really struggle with what I believe and how I can believe in a God when it seems like everything in the world is going wrong. I guess I'm really struggling with where is God. With that in mind I am excited to see where this month takes me and what surprises are in store. So surprise me God.

-Kate S.

So... Now what?

So I started today. I prayed "Surprise me, God" when I got up this morning. But then what? I didn't feel any different. I still have this horrible cold. I still have the same problems that I had yesterday... but on the way to work I noticed something. Everywhere I looked, I wasn't just looking at stuff, I was looking at it and wondering "is this God's surprise?" Now maybe the light snow falling outside my office window isn't God's surprise for me today... but maybe it is. So my surprise today is possibly just knowing that God's surprises can be anywhere, anytime.... and praying "surprise me" is like opening my eyes to all the ways God is involved in my life.

Until next time...
Natalia

Surprise Me God

This is it... the place where people are going to record their 30 Day Journey of asking God to surprise them. How exciting! I can't wait to keep coming back here and reading all of the entries!


Check back soon - and often!