Groucho Marx is on my face!

A black eyebrow.  Yup.  I was so tired that I actually grabbed the wrong pencil and colored my eyebrow black. My first clue came when I finally turned on the light.  Yes doing one's makeup in the dark is not recommended but I was tired and my eyes were not yet ready for the light!  Thank heavens I finally did turn on the light. I saw the disaster and I quickly grabbed the makeup remover and removed Groucho Marx's mustache from above my eye.  It was an unexpected moment and it will stick with me....I will now always turn on the light before putting on my makeup....and I will always double check the color of the pencil before I use it.

Unexpected moments come for better or worse.  The bigger the "unexpected" the deeper the impact it leaves on our life story.  BJ and I recently had one of these bigger unexpected moments.

BJ and I went to visit a piece of property the other day that OMS Ecuador is considering purchasing.  It is in Chaguarpamba, where a majority of our ministry takes place.  The idea is to build a home for our family to live in so that we can be closer to the people we are discipling.  It has already been a long road yet we are just at the beginning of this chapter of our Ecuador story.

 We had set up a meeting with the land owner and the municipality.  They were coming to measure out some property lines. After the workers left we were standing around talking with Luis, the property owner, and his adult daughter.   Mari, his daughter, began asking us questions about who we were and what we do.  As we began to tell her about our ministry Mari began jumping up and down with excitement.  She proceeded to tell us that she is an evangelical Christian living in Guayaquil.  She comes and visits her parents every few months.  She said, "I have been praying for someone like you guys to come here and share the good news!"  BJ replied, "I think God is answering your prayers."

That was it.  A moment that left an indelible mark.  Knowing that it is not just our own hearts that have a passion for reaching the lost of this area was a great gift.  God has been so good to us!  We have no doubts that Chaguarpamba is where God is leading us.

Today when we arrived at kids club in Chaguarpamba there were already 5 kids waiting for us at the basketball court.  The kids didn't even let us get out of the car before they were hugging on us.  It was a sweet gift.  Later that morning when I walked across the street to purchase juice to serve to the kids I struck up a conversation with the store owner.  Amidst this conversations she informed me that the kids had been standing at the gate since 8 am.  Club didn't start until 9:30!!  She told me that she had gone out and told the kids that they were very early but they simply responded that they wanted to be early to help us set up.  They just couldn't wait!  "The kids here really love you guys", she said.

Another indelible mark.  Another unexpected moment that continued guiding us towards the decision we have been walking toward.  Neither situations were necessary but they were both welcomed comfort.  And sometimes that's just what we get!  Comfort.  Blessing.  Scripture tells us, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God."  There are some pretty good perks to being a part of God's family.  One of which being the Heavenly Father gives us more then we need or deserve.  Bonus blessings.  Like light switches to turn on so that we can see that ridiculous eyebrow before we walk out in public.....