and forget not all His benefits

Somebody please remind me next year that I am always VERY grateful for the time I am able to spend at law school conferences in OKC.

Last night I spent about three hours talking with the young Barths, Jeremy from the kitchen, and Marty from Canada. Last August I met Jeremy slightly and lectured at Marty, but they were all basically new acquaintances. That said, we had an amazingly encouraging and timely conversation about life and the glory of God and the importance of giving testimony of the things He does in our lives.

The funny thing is that we didn't really need to know each other that well for this to happen, because our lives all share the most important Person.

This afternoon No. 2 came and picked me up from John Wayne and I started to tell her how good (by good I mean good) last night was.

I got all the way to "It reminded me of . . ." when she finished my sentence, "talking at Nationals with Thomas."

That seemed a little uncanny to me, because the field of things it could've reminded me of (including things that happened while No. 2 was in a different place, possibly even a different continent) was extremely large.

But that was exactly what I had been going to say.

During a very discouraging night at Nationals, No. 2 and I sat for a couple of hours in a sort of lounge of UMHB's McLane Hall and talked with Thomas, our friend-of-about-three-days, about God's leading in the ups and downs of leadership. It was clearer than clear that the wisdom and encouragement coming out of 21-year-old Thomas was not his. We both walked away grateful for the care of our heavenly Father.

A couple weeks ago I was listening to a John Piper sermon where he mentioned how much it would change our thinking not to thank our Christian brothers and sisters for encouragement or things we receive from them, but to express all our gratefulness to God first. So, "I'm so grateful to God for the lesson you taught," or "I'm grateful for the blessing God brought me in the meal you made." (Somehow it sounded better and real-er when he said it.)

The experience of sweet fellowship that comes not from established friendship but from having a common Center really drives this point home.

HE is good to bless us in ways we would not expect.