Potato Chips & Trust

Below was shared with me via email: Enjoy!

Potato Chips


A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with a bag of potato chips and a six-pack of root beer and started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old man. He was sitting in the park, just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old man looked hungry, so he offered him some chips. He gratefully accepted it and smiled at him.

His smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer. Again, he smiled at him. The boy was delighted!

They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word..

As twilight approached, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave; but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old man, and gave him a hug. He gave him his biggest smile ever..

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?"

He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? He's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the old man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked, "dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?"

He replied "I ate potato chips in the park with God." However, before his son responded, he added, "You know, he's much younger than I expected."

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime! Embrace all equally!

Have lunch with God.......bring chips.

My thoughts

I have so much to be THANKFUL for. I'm blessed beyond measure! There are words enough to adequately express my gratitude for God's undeserved touch on my life. I could testify about many times or moments I felt God's gentle touch in my life. One that happened recently and has a profound impact on my life... I hope and pray you see God's handiwork & footprints throughout what happened.

I started my blog as a way to communicate how I was doing in my recovery. At first, it recounted the physical differences that were occurring, but it's become more. In all of it, I've sought to give God the glory for where I am. In posting my entries, I didn't think much about who was reading it. I think I assumed a few family members and friends might keep up to date, but God has reached further. Just this week, in viewing the demographics of those have visited my blog, I've been humbled & amazed that quite a few people from around the world have stumbled upon it. I don't know why or how often these folks have visited, but just once is cool. A few months ago, I discovered where I could read comments that people have posted in response to my postings. I came across one that struck me greatly. I posted about rainbows and God and there was a comment from Stephanie who shared she had come across my post while she was planning her sons birthday. She went on to share she was a young widowed Mom. I noticed she too had a blog and I went to it and began following it. Life remained busy and I didn't ever post on her blog my thankfulness for visiting my blog and saying something. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and God placed her in my heart, nudging me to visit her blog. I made a mental note with great intention to visit it. As you can predict, life again remained busy and I didn't follow up. As this years Lent season began, I made the decision to do a daily devotional along with giving up desserts & the like. Last week as I was headed to the gym at 4:50 am (yes, you're seeing that correctly), again God placed Stephanie in my heart. I told myself I would visit her blog during quiet time/ nap time that afternoon. I worked out as usual and returned home. In the quiet of the morning hours, I sat down with a cup of coffee and my devotionals. The scripture focus for the days was Proverbs 3: 5-6, which says,

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

I really love those scriptures! I began my morning as usual, getting my boys ready for the day. We did breakfast and some chores. A few hours later, Zach asked if he could take his brother upstairs to play. Side note: Kadin's two and we are working on stairs independence - as I'm writing this he's working on going up & down without hands (ahhhhh!!! Growing up so fast). They went upstairs and I followed a few minutes later. I went to our computer room to upload our recent email messages and while I was there I decided to visit Stephanie's blog. Opening the page, I noticed quickly a picture of a man, whom I assumed was her husband since I knew from briefly visiting before that she started the blog three days after her husband died. Under a picture of him was Proverbs 3: 5-6. You could have slapped me in the face, I was so awe-struck. Instantly, I knew God had been instrumental in all of this. I briefly viewed parts of her blog, read the last posting she had and made a comment. I promised myself I would visit the site again during quiet time as it was time to usher the boys back downstairs to prepare lunch. In my pursuing later in the afternoon, I discovered that when they were in high school, her husband Matt, had been in a terrible car crash resulting in him having a brain injury and being forced to learn to walk and talk again. WOW! Anyone who knows me knows I would empathize with this and be super excited for the returned ability he had. Looking at all these 'coincidences', I could help but see how God orchestrated it all. I will probably never meet Stephanie, but I'm committed to praying for her and her two children as they do their best to adjust to their new 'normal.' My heart hurts for them more than I can say!

Through it all, I remind myself that God is in control.