Unexpected blessing!

She is gorgeous, isn't she? Sixteen years into a marriage with one as beautiful as Beth and I still can't help but grin when I have a strong suspicion that someone is giving us one of those, "What is she doing with him?" looks.
Nine days ago we celebrated our sixteenth anniversary and today the elders stunned us with a surprise gift for "Clergy Appreciation Month." Part of it is a certificate for a night at this absolutely fabulous Italian restaurant...run by the kind of New York Italian that you would expect to love running that kind of place (...just so there is no confusion, this photo was not taken there!).
Isn't it just like God to stir people to do something like that right when you're ready to slip into a first-class, self-centered pout and sing, "Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms." (...although I have learned to come up with some more refined, mature ways to suck my thumb as Lead Pastor.) I admit I am human enough to bask in the gesture of love -- and in a matter of moments will crawl into bed on a Sunday evening with a far-too-rare sense of gratitude for God's hilarious orchestration of my life in this hilariously diverse organism known as English Fellowship Church.