Mystery Gift - Jodi Crago

Mystery Gift

By Jodi Crago

My Friend Debbie

A few years ago, when I was preparing to teach for the first time at a "Women's Encounter" (a retreat of sorts, but way more trendy and introspective!), I was frantically trying to stay organized and get everything done the morning we were scheduled to leave.

As silly as it sounds, one of the things on my list was to give myself a quick pedicure and paint my toenails--completely frivolous, but I have a major flip-flop addiction that demands my toenails don't look neglected! Know what I mean? I had tried two to three times that day to grab a few minutes out of thin air, but it wasn't working. I started to feel a little shallow, so I abandoned that plan. I thought something uber-spiritual was happening, and that God was teaching me a lesson by telling me to not worry about my toes.

Mystery gift...

Shortly after we all left the church that evening, one of the other teachers came up to the bus driver and told him to pull over somewhere. We were all looking around, and people were muttering and getting out of their seats.My friend Dana told us, "Billy Harper needs to give Jodi Crago something!" Mr. dot.com, (a.k.a. my friend Debbie.com's husband), had chased the bus down and caught up with us only a block away from the highway.

Dana collected the mysterious item in question and handed it to me, "Billy wanted to give this to you..." Silence. Maybe there were crickets chirping away somewhere, I don't know.

Someone said, "For Jodi?!"

Another said, "Errrr, do you mean Debbie? He does know that his wife is not teaching this year, right?"

"Yes, yes..." Dana said, and handed me the gift. A lot of the other ladies were teasing me a bit, and I even said, burning-hot and red-faced, "This is awkward..." even though I KNEW there was a noble explanation. But we had fun with the moment anyway.

Thank God that He allows us to have a sense of humor! I sat there for a minute, stone-still, a pretty little gift bag in my lap. My friend Martha said to me, "Oh, for Heaven's sake! Why aren't you opening it?" There was a small audience, and I sooooo love being put on the spot...Not!

Trying to lighten the moment a bit more, I said, "Uhhh, wow: I hope it's not a scorpion in a bad mood!" (Where THAT little quip came from I have not the slightest idea, but it's forever a part of the story!) I opened the bag and peeked inside . . . immediately, tears sprang from my eyes, and I pulled out a little pedicure kit! Debbie had written on a card, "And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!' " (Romans 10:15, NKJV)

"I am so proud of you, Jodi!"

Surprise!

I had not told a single soul about my failed attempts to do that pedicure. I had not even had the chance to talk to Debbie that day. I was supposed to, but my phone kept ringing and I got distracted. No one knew, except God. My Friend Debbie

Now, there are two possible explanations, and they both involve God. One: my feet were SO bad that God couldn't even stand to look at them. He sent Debbie on errands around town to get a pedicure kit to avoid what could have been a national podiatric disaster. Two: God was showing me that He truly cares for our every need, and He wants to do more. The Lord also wants us to know it is He who is doing it.

The fact that I could not get a hold of Debbie that day told me there was a purpose: He wanted it to be a surprise. He wanted it to unfold in such a way that no other explanation could be made. "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:11, NIV)

God is just so infinitely more than we can imagine. Not too big, not too small. It may seem a wee bit odd to give thanks for a pedicure set, but that is who God is. The more you walk with Him, the more of Him you see in your world. The Father's signature is scribbled all over even the most microscopic of things. It's all His, and He longs to share every part of it with you.