Reflecting On Being Thankful For The Unexpected, Unusual, Unknown

Did you notice that you did not receive any UnCommon Journey posts last week? For the past 10 days, I have been out of my usual routine. And, you have to understand, I love my routine. We had 10 guests in our home for five days through Airbnb. This meant that Rhonda and I gave up our bedroom & bathroom to three young ladies who were here for a wedding along with other family members from New Jersey. We stayed at my sister’s house, since they were on vacation, and cared for their two dogs. We returned to our house early every morning to provide breakfast, clean up, and generally care for our guests. All this unusual activity allowed little time for my customary prayer rhythms and writing. However, it did allow me to put into practice what I’ve been writing about – saying thank you for what’s in front of me, for the unusual, for the “neutral.” 

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Following our Airbnb guests, a dear couple from Southern California visited us for two days. We had a wonderful time together. This was unusual for us in a delightful way. Thankfulness continued to reign. 

A day later, we welcomed a house full of young ladies celebrating the wedding of one of them. On Sunday, we finally had the house to ourselves again. That is, until nine men “invaded” for a men’s discussion group on our back porch. Wowsy!?! 

This hospitality thing is awesome and tiring. We are thankful for the opportunity to serve others in this way. We need a few days to recover. 

But now, our guests are gone. We are sleeping in our own bed. We are comfortable in our own home.

I’m in front of my computer at 7:30AM having delighted in morning prayer liturgy, a little breakfast, and time with Rhonda before she headed off to work. It’s quiet. I’m writing. I’m praying. I’m looking out my window at birds feeding at the seed buffet. I’m surrounded by saints and angels, books and a messy desk, a Bible and prayer books. 

I am learning to be thankful for what is.

I have friends whose “is” is filled with pain, disease, tragedy, loss, and heartache. I live on the fringe of some of that. And, to be honest, I have little to offer them along the lines of thankfulness. They could teach me much. 

We’ll explore a bit of that this week. 

Thank you for your patience with me. Thank you for understanding my little “vacation” from writing and posting. Thank you for reading what I write.

I thank God for you! 

Dr. K